Friday, January 30, 2009

Halo Straight Dope

Who Decided Saints Have Halos?

The halo (also called a nimbus) has been around since the time of the Greeks and Romans, and was incorporated into Christian art sometime in the fourth century AD.

The halo thing is actually pretty intricate. There are not only plain round halos, used to signify saints, there's also the cross within a halo, used for Christ; the triangular halo, used for representations of the Trinity; and the square halo, used to depict unusually saintly living personages. Occasionally you also see things like the hexagonal halo, about which the less said the better.

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