Who decided saints have halos?
Dear S.: Your wish is my command, my little swamp turnip, but you might try to be a little less peremptory next time you write your Unca Cecil, who after all has been certified by God as Font of Universal Wisdom. 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, such as certain scandalously underpaid journalists I could name. (Square haloes, I am obliged to report, look totally Polish. No offense.) Occasionally you also see things like the hexagonal halo, about which the less said the better. Related to the halo is the aureole, a lemon-drop-shaped item that appears to radiate from t
