The indigenous civilizations of Central America depict agrarian gods with golden crowns or halos, suggesting an association of the halo with the sun. Halo The halo, usually represented as a luminous figure around the head of a god or holy person, appears in the iconography of a number of religious traditions. lowrie, Arts in the Early Church ( New York 1947), profusely illustrated. ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art ( New York 1959). leclercq, Dictionnaire d'arch éologie chr étienne et de liturgie, 15 v. The blessed, those beatified but not yet canonized, are depicted with a halo less explicit, formed by shafts of light radiating from behind the head.īibliography: h. The halos of the Blessed Virgin are often elaborately decorated, whereas those of the saints are usually simple gold bands. The triangular, or Trinitarian, halo is often composed of three broad rays of light issuing from the head. The square was used because in symbolism it represents the earth and temporal things and is inferior to the circle, which expresses eternity and heaven. This latter form is not now in common usage, though in ancient iconography it frequently was placed behind the head of the donor portrayed in a fresco or painting. When triangular, the halo designates the Holy Trinity or God the Father when circular, a saint or (with cross superimposed) Our Lord when square, a living person. Gold is ordinarily employed as most expressive of effulgence. It is usually a circle of gold surrounding the head, though at times it is shaped as a triangle or square. Later Catholic leaders saw nothing wrong with this use of non-Christian symbolism and allowed its use to spread to other holy figures.Greek ἅ λ ω ς in Christian art a symbol of the moral excellence of the person whom it adorns. The use of non-Christian symbolism in Christian art is simply happenstance, caused by the identification of the Roman sun god Apollo with Jesus. The Bible does refer to God as a being of light, and to Moses's face as being literally radiant after his meeting with God on Mount Sinai, but otherwise says nothing about halos.Įven the Catholic Encyclopedia states that the Bible furnished no example for the bestowal of a halo upon individual saintly personages. Later, the practice extended to depictions of Mary, the saints, angels, and other holy figures. When the sun-god's followers were converted to Christianity, the depictions of Apollo were simply renamed to be depictions of Jesus, and it eventually became common practice for all depictions of Jesus to include this halo or nimbus. Throughout the Roman Empire, one prominent pre-Christian god was Apollo, the sun god.Īpollo was the favourite god of the emperor Constantine, who was largely responsible for the development of Roman Christianity.Īpollo's images were very recognizable as they had a circle of flames or a bright circle of light behind his head to represent the sun.Ĭhrist as Sol Invictus, late 3 rd century, St. Members of other religions were often converted to Roman Christianity by having their previous religion described in Christian terms, allowing them to follow their old traditions and celebrations while being nominally Christian. Many religions, such as Hindu, Buddhist, Greek, and Egyptian, used this symbol of divinity in their paintings, sculptures, and mosaics.ĭuring the early 4 th century, the Roman Empire made a form of Christianity its official religion. The halo appears even in literature, such as Homer's Iliad's depiction of battle heroes having an unnatural light around their heads. Mary's halo is often depicted as a circle of twelve stars, a symbol that, along with Mary's traditional blue colour, now forms the European Union's flag.įrom ancient times, halos have been used to highlight the significant characters in artwork. Popular fiction, as well as film and television depict Christians as believing that when they die and go to Heaven they too will receive halos (and harps and wings). The circle, having no beginning or end, symbolizes eternity and represents the transcendence of physical existence. This circle can have various forms, from a solid disk to a thin ring, but it is always circular and bright. Saints, angels, and other holy beings are traditionally depicted as having a circle of light over or behind their heads. Lie - Angels and saints wear a halo Lie - Angels and saints wear a halo The Story
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