Shapes and Halos as Symbols

Thanks for coming back, or visiting for the first time, if that’s the case.

Last week, we talked about the use colors, shapes and other objects as symbols in holy cards and works of religious art. We said symbols were used to express ideas (theology, specifically) that are difficult to teach or understand. The secular world does the same. For example, most people wear black when attending funerals; a wedding band expresses the ideal that marriages never end. In both religious and secular spheres, symbols have meaningful.

Today we’ll look at the meaning of shapes and halos depicted in old holy cards.

A circle on an old holy card represents God’s “no beginning, no end” characteristic.

A semi-circle dome represents the sky or heavens. That is why many churches have a dome.

A halo is the most common use of the circle. It is shown in holy cards behind the person’s head, rather than above the head as is commonly seen in our modern culture. Sometimes the circle is filled with gold; sometimes just the outer rim is depicted. An artist may have painted halos rather small or rather big, to show that the person is a new Christian or one whose entire life was devoted to Christ.

Mandorla is a type of halo most commonly seen in depictions of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It surrounds the body, not just the head, and indicates that the person is especially close to God.

A triangle represents The Holy Trinity, three distinct Persons (lines or points), but one God. Artists reserved the triangle-shaped halo for the depiction of God the Father or Jesus, as seen in today’s image.

A square or rectangle represents humanity and earthly things. Many old churches had this shape with a dome over the altar to represent God and man, heaven and earth coming together during Mass.

A star (five points) in religious art represents divine guidance. It is often associated with the Epiphany when the Magi spotted the star and followed it to find the Infant Jesus.

Holy cards with Mary often have numerous stars. Why? Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua, authors of Holy Cards (Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, 2004; page 141) explain that Mary giving birth to Jesus without losing her virginity was like “stars sending out light without losing their brightness.”

(The Star of David, with six points, dates back to the shield of the actual King David. Given the misunderstandings between Jews and Catholics before the 1960s, it would not have appeared on the old Catholic holy cards.)

A cross represents …. What? How do you finish that sentence? Some will say Jesus. Others will say Jesus’ death. Still others will say Christian. Christianity, or perhaps Protestant.

A crucifix is a cross with a corpus (body) on it. One might say it represents Jesus or Catholic. The cross and crucifix represent a huge category of Christian doctrine that individuals interpret well, individually. As a child raised Catholic, for example, most crosses I saw were crucifixes. My Protestant friend, who wore a beautiful cross necklace, said Catholics celebrate the death of Jesus, not His resurrection. I said no, Catholics display crucifixes (crucifix necklaces didn’t come until later) because we never want to forget the sacrifices Jesus made.

Both my friend and I celebrated parts of the entire doctrine: sorrow in the crucifixion and joy in the Resurrection. Interesting.

Today in my hometown church a humongous cross with a corpus dressed in priest vestments wearing a crown hangs above the tabernacle. A large crucifix hangs on the side wall. Isn’t that the truth! Suffering and joy are both part of life. So are sin and salvation. I’m grateful that my Catholic heritage taught me to honor the suffering that leads to the crown.