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Ahalo (from Ancient Greek ἅλως,hálōs, 'threshing floor, disk'),[1][2] also called animbus,aureole,glory orgloriole (Latin:gloriola,lit. 'little glory'), is a crown of light rays, circle or disk of light[3] that surrounds a person in works ofart. The halo occurs in theiconography of many religions to indicate holy or sacred figures, and has at various periods also been used in images of rulers and heroes. In the religious art ofAncient Greece,Ancient Rome,Christianity,Hinduism, andBuddhism (among other religions), sacred persons may be depicted with a halo in the form of a circular glow, or flames inAsian art, around the head or around the whole body—this last form is often called amandorla.
Halos may be shown as almost any colour or combination of colours, but are most often depicted as golden, yellow or white (when representing light) or as red (when representing flames). The earliest artistic depictions of halos were probably inAncient Egyptian art.[4]
Sumerian religious literature frequently speaks ofmelam (melammu inAkkadian), a "brilliant, visible glamour which is exuded by gods, heroes, sometimes by kings, and also by temples of great holiness and by gods' symbols and emblems."[5]
Persian mythology, and laterZoroastrian philosophy, speaks of the similar concept ofKhvarenah (laterfarrah), a divine, radiant power that sanctified a king and his reign. It was most often depicted as aphoenix-like bird, theSimurgh.
Homer describes a more-than-natural light around the heads ofheroes in battle.[6] Depictions ofPerseus in the act of slayingMedusa, with lines radiating from his head, appear on a white-ground toiletry box and on a slightly laterred-figured vase in the style ofPolygnotos,c. 450–30 BC.[7] On painted wares fromsouth Italy, radiant lines or simple haloes appear on a range of mythic figures: Lyssa, a personification of madness; asphinx; a sea demon; andThetis, the sea-nymph who was mother toAchilles.[8] TheColossus of Rhodes was a statue of the sun-godHelios and had his usualradiate crown (copied for theStatue of Liberty).Hellenistic rulers are often shown wearing radiate crowns that seem clearly to imitate this effect.[9]
In India, the use of halo might date back to the second half of the second millennium BC. Two figures appliqued on a pottery vase fragment fromDaimabad's Malwa phase (1600–1400 BC) have been interpreted as a holy figure resembling the later Hindu godShiva and an attendant, both with halos surrounding their heads,[10]Aureola have been widely used in Indian art, particularly inBuddhist iconography[11] where it has appeared since at least the 1st century AD; the KushanBimaran casket in theBritish Museum is dated 60 AD (at least between 30BC and 200 AD). The rulers of theKushan Empire were perhaps the earliest to give themselves haloes on their coins, and the nimbus in art may have originated in Central Asia and spread both east and west.[11]
In Chinese and JapaneseBuddhist art, the halo has also been used since the earliest periods in depicting the image ofAmitabha Buddha and others.Tibetan Buddhism uses haloes and aureoles of many types, drawing from both Indian and Chinese traditions, extensively in statues andThangka paintings of Buddhist saints such asMilarepa andPadmasambhava and deities. Different coloured haloes have specific meanings: orange for monks, green for the Buddha and other more elevated beings,[12] and commonly figures have both a halo for the head, and another circular one for the body, the two often intersecting somewhere around the head or neck. Thin lines of gold often radiate outwards or inwards from the rim of the halo, and sometimes a whole halo is made up of these.[13]
In India the head halo is calledPrabhamandala orSiras-cakra, while the full body halo isPrabhavali.[14] Elaborate haloes and especially aureoles also appear inHindu sculpture, where they tend to develop into architectural frames in which the original idea can be hard to recognise.Theravada Buddhism andJainism did not use the halo for many centuries, but later adopted it, though less thoroughly than other religious groups.
In Asian art, the nimbus is often imagined as consisting not just of light, but of flames. This type seems to first appear in Chinese bronzes of which the earliest surviving examples date from before 450.[16] The depiction of the flames may be very formalized, as in the regular little flames on the ring aureole surrounding manyChola bronzes and other classic Hindu sculptures of divinities, or very prominent, as with the more realistic flames, and sometimes smoke, shown rising to a peak behind many Tibetan Buddhist depictions of the "wrathful aspect" of divinities, and also inPersian miniatures of the classic period. Sometimes a thin line of flames rise up from the edges of a circular halo in Buddhist examples.[17] In Tibetan paintings the flames are often shown as blown by a wind,[18] usually from left to right. This type is also very rarely found, and on a smaller scale, in medieval Christian art.[19][page needed]
Halos are found inIslamic art from various places and periods, especially inPersian miniatures andMoghul andOttoman art influenced by them. Flaming halos derived from Buddhist art surround angels, and similar ones are often seenaround Muhammad and other sacred human figures. From the early 17th century, plainer round haloes appear in portraits ofMughal Emperors and subsequentlyRajput andSikh rulers;[11] despite the more local precedents art historians believe the Mughals took the motif from European religious art, though it expresses a Persian idea of the God-givencharisma of kingship that is far older.[20] TheOttomans avoided using halos for thesultans, despite their title asCaliph, and they are only seen on Chinese emperors if they are posing as Buddhist religious figures, as some felt entitled to do.[21]
![Chola Nataraja with an aureole of flames (11th century)[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aShiva_Nataraja_Mus%25C3%25A9e_Guimet_25971.jpg)
The halo represents anaura or the glow of sanctity which was conventionally drawn encircling the head. It first appeared in the culture of Hellenistic Greece andRome, possibly related to theZoroastrianhvarena – "glory" or "divine lustre" – which marked the Persian kings, and may have been imported withMithraism.[23] Though Roman paintings have largely disappeared, save somefresco decorations, the haloed figure remains fresh in Roman mosaics. In a 2nd-century AD Roman floor mosaic preserved atBardo, Tunisia,[24] a haloedPoseidon appears in his chariot drawn byhippocamps. Significantly, thetriton andnereid who accompany the sea-god are not haloed.
In a late 2nd century AD floor mosaic from Thysdrus,El Djem, (illustration)Apollo Helios is identified by his effulgent halo. Another haloed Apollo in mosaic, fromHadrumentum, is in the museum atSousse.[25] The conventions of this representation, head tilted, lips slightly parted, large-eyed, curlinghair cut in locks grazing the neck, were developed in the 3rd century BC to depictAlexander the Great (Bieber 1964; Yalouris 1980). Sometime after this mosaic was executed, the Emperor began to be depicted with a halo,[26] which was not abandoned when they became Christian; initially Christ only had one when shown on a throne asChrist in Majesty.[27]
The halo was incorporated intoEarly Christian art sometime in the 4th century with the earliesticonic images of Christ, initially the only figure shown with one (together with his symbol, theLamb of God). Initially the halo was regarded by many as a representation of theLogos of Christ, his divine nature, and therefore in very early (before 500) depictions of Christ before his Baptism byJohn he tends not to be shown with a halo, it being a matter of debate whether hisLogos was innate from conception (the Catholic/Orthodox view), or acquired at Baptism (theAdoptionist view). At this period he is also shown as a child or youth inBaptisms, though this may be a hieratic rather than an age-related representation.[29]
Acruciform halo, that is to say a halo with a cross within, or extending beyond, the circle is used to represent the persons of theHoly Trinity, especiallyJesus, and especially in medieval art. In Byzantine and Orthodox images, inside each of the bars of the cross in Christ's halo is one of theGreek letters Ο Ω Ν, making upὁ ὢν—"ho ōn", literally, "the Existing One"—indicating thedivinity of Jesus.[30] At least in later Orthodox images, each bar of this cross is composed of three lines, symbolising thedogmas of the Trinity, theoneness of God and thetwo natures of Christ.
Inmosaics inSanta Maria Maggiore (432–40) the juvenile Christ has a four-armed cross either on top of his head in the radius of the nimbus, or placed above the radius, but this is unusual. In the same mosaics the accompanying angels have haloes (as, in a continuation of the Imperial tradition, doesKing Herod), but notMary andJoseph. Occasionally other figures have crossed haloes, such as the seven doves representing theSeven gifts of the Holy Spirit in the 11th centuryCodex VyssegradensisTree of Jesse (whereJesse andIsaiah also have plain haloes, as do theAncestors of Christ in other miniatures).[31]
Later, triangular haloes are sometimes given toGod the Father to represent theTrinity.[32] When he is represented by ahand emerging from a cloud, this may be given a halo.
Plain round haloes are typically used to signifysaints, the Virgin Mary,Old Testament prophets, angels, symbols of theFour Evangelists, and some other figures.Byzantine emperors and empresses were often shown with them in compositions including saints or Christ, however the haloes were outlined only. This was copied by Ottonian and later Russian rulers. Old Testament figures become less likely to have haloes in the West as the Middle Ages go on.[33]
Beatified figures, not yet canonised as saints, are sometimes shown in medieval Italian art with linear rays radiating out from the head, but no circular edge of the nimbus defined; later this became a less obtrusive form of halo that could be used for all figures.[34] Mary has, especially from theBaroque period onwards, a special form of halo in acircle of twelve stars, derived from her identification as theWoman of the Apocalypse.
Square haloes were sometimes used for the living indonor portraits of about 500–1100 in Italy.[35] Most surviving ones are of Popes and others inmosaics in Rome, including theEpiscopa Theodora head of the mother of the Pope of the day. They seem merely an indication of a contemporary figure, as opposed to the saints usually accompanying them, with no real implication of future canonization. A late example is ofDesiderius, Abbot of Monte Cassino, later Pope, from a manuscript of 1056–86;[36] PopeGregory the Great had himself depicted with one, according to the 9th-century writer of hisvita,John, deacon of Rome.[37] A figure who may representMoses in the 3rd centuryDura Europos Synagogue has one, where no round halos are found.[38]Osbert Lancaster notes the presence of square haloes indonor portraits in the 7th-century church ofSt Demetrios inThessalonika.[39]
Personifications of theVirtues are sometimes givenhexagonal haloes.[40] Scalloped haloes, sometimes just appearing as made of radiating bars, are found in the manuscripts of theCarolingian "Ada School", such as theAda Gospels.
The whole-body image of radiance is sometimes called the 'aureole' orglory; it is shown radiating from all round the body, most often of Christ or Mary, occasionally of saints (especially those reported to have been seen surrounded by one). Such an aureola is often amandorla ("almond-shaped"vesica piscis), especially aroundChrist in Majesty, who may well have a halo as well. Indepictions of the Transfiguration of Jesus a more complicated shape is often seen, especially in theEastern Orthodox tradition, as in the famous 15th century icon in theTretyakov Gallery inMoscow.[41]
Wheregold is used as a background inminiatures,mosaics and panel paintings, the halo is often formed by inscribing lines in thegold leaf, and may be decorated in patterns (diapering) within the outer radius, and thus becomes much less prominent. The gold leaf inside the halo may also be burnished in a circular manner, so as to produce the effect of light radiating out from the subject's head. In the early centuries of its use, the Christian halo may be in most colours (though black is reserved forJudas,Satan and other evil figures) or multicoloured; later gold becomes standard, and if the entire background is not gold leaf, the halo itself usually will be.[42]
With increasingrealism in painting, the halo came to be a problem for artists. So long as they continued to use the old compositional formulae which had been worked out to accommodate haloes, the problems were manageable, but as Western artists sought more flexibility in composition, this ceased to be the case. In free-standing medievalsculpture, the halo was already shown as a flat disk above or behind the head. Whenperspective came to be considered essential, painters also changed the halo from an aura surrounding the head, always depicted as though seen full-on, to a flat golden disk or ring that appeared in perspective, floating above the heads of the saints, or vertically behind, sometimes transparent. This can be seen first inGiotto, who still gives Christ the cruciform halo which began to be phased out by his successors. In northern Europe the radiant halo, made up of rays like asunburst, came into fashion in French painting around the end of the 14th century.[43]
In the early 15th centuryJan van Eyck andRobert Campin largely abandoned their use, although some otherEarly Netherlandish artists continued to use them.[44] In Italy at around the same time,Pisanello used them if they did not clash with one of the enormous hats he liked to paint. Generally they lasted longer in Italy, although often reduced to a thin gold band depicting the outer edge of the nimbus, usual for example inGiovanni Bellini. Christ began to be shown with a plain halo.
Fra Angelico, himself amonk, was a conservative as far as haloes are concerned, and some of his paintings demonstrate the problems well, as in several of his more crowded compositions, where they are shown as solid gold disks on the same plane as the picture surface, it becomes difficult to prevent them obstructing other figures. At the same time they were useful in crowded narrative scenes for distinguishing the main, identifiable, figures from the mass of a crowd.Giotto'sLamentation of Christ from theScrovegni Chapel has eight figures with haloes and ten without, to whom the viewer knows they are not meant to attach a specific identity. In the same way, aBaptism of Christ byPerugino in Vienna gives neither Christ norJohn the Baptist haloes, as sufficiently recognisable without them, but a saint in the background, not usually present in this scene, has a ring halo to denote his status.[45]
In theHigh Renaissance, even most Italian painters dispensed with haloes altogether, but in the Church's reaction to theProtestant Reformation, that culminated in thedecrees on images of the Council of Trent of 1563, their use was mandated by clerical writers on religious art such asMolanus and SaintCarlo Borromeo. Figures were placed where natural light sources would highlight their heads, or instead more discreet quasi-naturalistic flickering or glowing light was shown around the head of Christ and other figures (perhaps pioneered byTitian in his late period).Rembrandt'setchings, for example, show a variety of solutions of all of these types, as well as a majority with no halo effect at all. The disk halo was rarely used for figures fromclassical mythology in the Renaissance, although they are sometimes seen, especially in the classical radiant form, inMannerist andBaroque art.
By the 19th century haloes had become unusual in Western mainstream art, although retained in iconic and popular images, and sometimes as a medievalising effect. WhenJohn Millais gives his otherwise realistSt Stephen (1895) a ring halo, it seems rather surprising.[46] In popular graphic culture, a simple ring has become the predominant representation of a halo since at least the late 19th century, as seen for example in the logo for theSimon Templar ("The Saint") series of novels and other adaptations.
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The distinction between the alternative terms used in English for various types of halo is rather unclear. The oldest term in English is "glory", the only one available in theMiddle Ages, but now largely obsolete. It came from the Frenchgloire which has much the same range of meanings as "glory". "Gloriole" does not appear in this sense until 1844, being a modern invention, as a diminutive, in French also. "Halo" is first found in English in this sense in 1646 (nearly a century after the optical or astronomical sense). Both "halos" and "haloes" may be used as plural forms, and halo may be used as a verb.[47] Halo comes originally from the Greek for "threshing-floor" – a circular, slightly sloping area kept very clean, around which slaves or oxen walked to thresh the grain. In Greek, this came to mean a divine, bright disk.
Nimbus means "a cloud" inLatin, and is found as "a divine cloud" in 1616, whereas as "a bright or golden disk surrounding the head" it does not appear until 1727. The pluralnimbi is correct but "rare"; "nimbuses" is not in the OED but sometimes used.Nimb is an obsolete form of the noun, but not a verb, except that the obsolete "nimbated", like the commoner "nimbate", means "furnished with a nimbus". It is sometimes preferred by art-historians, as sounding more technical than halo.[48]
Aureole, from the Latin for "golden", has been used in English as a term for a gold crown, especially that traditionally considered the reward ofmartyrs, since the Middle Ages (OED 1220). However, the first use recorded as a term for a halo is in 1848, very shortly after which matters were greatly complicated by the publication in 1851 of the English translation ofAdolphe Napoléon Didron's importantChristian Iconography: Or, The History of Christian Art in the Middle Ages. This, by what the OED calls a "strange blunder", derived the word from the Latinaura as a diminutive, and also defined it as meaning a halo or glory covering the whole body, whilst saying that "nimbus" referred only to a halo around the head. This, according to the OED, reversed the historical usage of both words, but whilst Didron's diktat was "not accepted in France", the OED noted it had already been picked up by several English dictionaries, and influenced usage in English, which still seems to be the case, as the word "nimbus" is mostly found describing whole-body haloes, and seems to have also influenced "gloriole" in the same direction.[49]
The only English term that unequivocally means a full-body halo, and cannot be used for a circular disk around the head is "mandorla", first occurring in 1883. However, this term, which is the Italian word for "almond", is usually reserved for thevesica piscis shape, at least in describing Christian art. In discussing Asian art, it is used more widely.[50] Otherwise, there could be said to be an excess of words that could refer to either a head-disk or a full-body halo, and no word that clearly denotes a full-body halo that is not vesica piscis shaped. "Halo" by itself, according to recent dictionaries,[51] means only a circle around the head, although Rhie and Thurman use the word also for circular full-body aureoles.[52]
The earlyChurch Fathers expended much rhetorical energy on conceptions of God as a source of light; among other things this was because "in the controversies in the 4th century over the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son, the relation of the ray to the source was the most cogent example of emanation and of distinct forms with a common substance" – key concepts in the theological thought of the time.[53]
A moreCatholic interpretation is that the halo represents the light of divine grace suffusing the soul, which is perfectly united and in harmony with the physical body.
In the theology of theEastern Orthodox Church, anicon is a "window into heaven" through which Christ and the Saints in heaven can be seen and communicated with. Thegold ground of the icon indicates that what is depicted is in heaven. The halo is a symbol of theUncreated Light (Greek: Ἄκτιστον Φῶς) orgrace of God shining forth through the icon.Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in hisCelestial Hierarchies speaks of the angels and saints being illuminated by the grace of God, and in turn illumining others.
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