Halo
HALO
Greek ἅλως in Christian art a symbol of the moral excellence of the person whom it adorns. It is usually a circle of gold surrounding the head, though at times it is shaped as a triangle or square. Gold is ordinarily employed as most expressive of effulgence. 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. 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. 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. The triangular, or Trinitarian, halo is often composed of three broad rays of light issuing from the head. The halos of the Blessed Virgin are often elaborately decorated, whereas those of the saints are usually simple gold bands. 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.
See Also: aureole (nimbus).
Bibliography: h. leclercq, Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, 15 v. (Paris 1907–53) 12.1:1272–1312. g. ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (New York 1959). w. lowrie, Arts in the Early Church (New York 1947), profusely illustrated.
[c. j. corcoran]