Or Reconciling the Irreconcilable (Or At Least Trying)
The transformation of the halo signals the end of medieval art and the spread of the Renaissance view far more clearly than more commonly examined factors, perspective foremost amongst them. It accompanies the abandonment of several levels of lecture for one dominant system centred on the artist himself; what we see – indeed all we see – is from where he stands. A most interesting shift, both metaphysically and physically.
With the shift of perspective (in many more ways than one) to the humanisitic view, painters were faced with a new dilemna. How to integrate an element which obeyed none of the developing rules in a system which, by definition, could not easily brook exceptions ? Well, it certainly didn’t happen overnight, and there were many curious compromises in between. Nor does this happen systematically, or even when considered by movement, school, nationality or artist. Each is to be feeling his way, trial and error seems the norm. Occasionally, several « systems » jostle in one image, traditional haloes rub nimbi with dynamic oval versions. A variety of treatments of the actual halo’s surface are experimented, from simply tracing the halo in perspective (and even the rendering of those perspectives varies from well-observed to frankly clumsy) but retaining the gilding and texturing, to dropping the gold leaf and painting a life-like (and occasionally weighty and dangerous-looking) gold platter, complete with shadows, highlights and reflections. The result is slighly unsettling, with haloes taking on a solidity certainly not in line with the notion of the presence of inner light.
Ultimately, it is quite strange that such a course be taken. Rather than reconsider the nature of the halo, redefining its visual appearance (rendering light was certainly not beyond any of the painters’ grasp) and proposing a new solution, the novel law of predominant vanishing points were applied, projecting them into physical space with all the energy of a discus thrower. To have them floating in crowd scenes with no visible means of support, because all the other elements are naturalistic, confers an atmosphere bordering on the surreal, which was certainly not the intention of the artist.
Equally, given that gold leaf cannot serve to further the illusion of a surface drawn with an eye for perspective, gilding had to be abandoned in favour of gold-coloured pigments, further integrating the halo in the image-space. The absense of gold leaf on three-dimensional haloes allows, or rather requires, painterly treatment, an exigency dealt with in as many ways as there are painters. Haloes, rather than signalling an inner radiance, begin to cast shadows on whatever is beneath them, reflecting tonsured crowns and ambient light. From signal attributes of sainthood, they are often reduced to curious and cumbersome accessories, before finally being transformed into the slim circlets of gold that feature in the Baroque and beyond.
A halo is all very well if the owner is facing front, or in profile. Where the requirements of the scene place him with his back to us, suddenly it appears as if he has a golden plate stuck to his nose. Strangely, it seems easier to « read » the halo if we can see the owner’s face, the back of a head transforming the halo into an object contained within the painting and not a device outside spatial laws. It’s tempting to wonder in the painters’ public and peers had this problem, or if it is our modern eyes that have trouble adjusting.
 |
A. Fra Angelico, Coronation of the Virgin,1434. Tempera on panel, 69 x 37 cm, Florence, Museo di San Marco. Those holy men with their backs to us have their haloes in their faces.
B. The foremost kneeling figure in this painting of the Transfiguration, also by Fra Angelico, c. 1438-45, has the same concern.
C. Similar discomfort with the Court of Heaven, also by Fra Angelico, for the holy personages with their backs to us. On the other hand, the painting is a telling illustration of the use of gilding to provoke the dislocation of vision provided by the properties of gilding. The two surfaces, painted scene and gilded areas, cannot be satisfactorily lit by the same light source. The sudden blaze of the gold, often accompanied by an adumbration of the rest, (or the opposite ; adequately lighting the scene itself will usually remove the focus from the gold leaf) is a reminder that we cannot easily reconcile the spiritual and the physical.
 |
Altichiero da Zevio (c. 1330 – c. 1390) seems undecided as to how to treat haloes.
Left : Crucifixion. Christ has a standard medieval halo, as do most of the onlookers, with the exception of one figure in a three-quarter back view, whose halo is affixed to the crown of his head. A similarly oriented female figure, kneeling in the foreground, nevertheless keeps a medieval halo.
Centre : Crucifixion. In this later sketch, traditional haloes seems to have been left out but the same figure as before, in a rather more dynamic pose, still sports the same halo. Christ himself has a new model, heavily sketched out in a wide oval.
Right : The Beheading of St. George, 1385, wall painting, Oratory of San Giorgio at Padua. This is really a MOST unusual depiction of a halo. George looks as though he is practising both genuflection and deportment simultaneously, balancing a small board on the back of his head.
 |
Paulo Ucello, Florentine school (b. 1397, Firenze, d. 1475, Firenze) was not systematic in his use of haloes. In his famous paintings of Saint George and the Dragon, George has a helm but no halo ; he seems to have abandoned them in the 1440’s.
A. Disputation of St Stephen, 1435. Medieval gilded halo.
B. Fortitude, 1435.
C. Faith, 1435. Both virtues have classical round haloes, although Ucello has chosen to place them in mandorlas.
D, E & F. Saints Paul, Francis and Jerome, all with ordinary haloes.
G & H. The Creation of Animals and the Creation of Man, 1439-40. A debonnaire God with a halo the size of a wide-brimmed straw hat.
I. Head of a Prophet, from a decorated clock, 1443.
J. Madonna & Child, c. 1445. Ucello has chosen both a vigorous perspective and a curious design for both haloes, Madonna’s and Child’s.
 |
Fra Angelico (b. ca. 1400, Vicchio nell Mugello, d. 1455, Roma)
A. Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian before Lisius, 1438-40. The most traditional of haloes
B. The Three Marys. More classical haloes, with Christ in a mandorla
C. A traffic jam of haloes as Christ arrives in Limbo. (Christ in Limbo, or the Harrowing of Hell, is another episode that has generated a good deal of fascinating imagery. Churchmen debated about the problem of the souls of those who, since Adam and Eve, had died before Christ was born and had not been baptised, thus logically destined for damnation. Right after the Resurrection, they decided, Christ makes a surprise visit to Hell, or Limbo (the equivalent of Hell’s waiting-room), where he “harrows” it, gathering up the good souls and taking them to heaven.)
D. More standard models, though the Infant’s halo has taken on a supplementary dimension
E. In this Deposition from 1436-40, all the haloes are medieval, with the exception of the halo belonging to the uppermost figure on the ladder.
F. The Flight from Egypt , 1450. Tempera on wood, Museum of San Marco, Florence. Fra Angelico decides not to decide. Joseph’s halo, as well as the Christ Child’s are purely old-fashioned medieval, while Mary has the modern Renaissance model.
G. In this Annunciation from 1450, the halos are seen practically from side-on ; the annunciating angel’s halo is nearly a line.
 |
Masaccio (December 21, 1401 – autumn 1428), in his very short career, passed unequivocably from one epoch to another.
A. The most standard-issue haloe for this Madonna on the San Giovenale Triptych, 1422
B. The Madonna and Child with Saint Anne, 1424. The angels’ haloes are oval, and the Infant’s halo, curiously enough, passes behind his Mother’s shoulder. (With groups of saintly figures, a clear hierarchy is often established, though it is rarely consistent from one painter to the next.)
C. The Crucifixion of St Peter & the Beheading of St John the Baptist. Predella panel from the Pisa Altar, 1426, Gemaeldegalerie, Berlin. Masaccio has put his haloes in perspective, despite making it look like Saint Peter is being balanced on his head on a platter. This is possibly one of the very few haloes ever painted actually sitting flat on the ground. (There is another simlar halo in a depiction of the Agony in the Garden, where one of the apostles is asleep on his back with his halo between his head and the ground.)
D. Return to classical haloes in this Crucifixion dated 1426.
E. Madonna with Child and Angels, 1426. All have mediveval haloes wit hte exception of the pensive Infant with a three-dimensional one.
F. The Distribution of Alms and the Death of Ananias, 1427. Masaccio has definitively abandoned the medieval version for the latest Renaissance model.
G. Raising of the Son of Theophilus and St Peter Enthroned, 1427. Another halo perched on the wearer’s occiput.
H. Masaccio’s Tribute Money, in the Brancacci chapel, 1426-27, is a festival of canted discs.
 |
Neri Di Bicci (1419-1491) followed the same path over a rather longer period.
A. Beautifully detailed halo on a Madonna and Child. (Avignon, Petit Palais.)
B. Another Madonna, with angels and saints, and highly detailed haloes
C. Madonna retains a classical halo, the Christ Child’s halo has aquired a three-dimensional treatment.
D. Similar solution for this Madonna and Child.
E. Annunciation, from 1459, the haloes of the angel and the Virgin, while still detailed, are defnitively three-dimensional.
Soon, haloes begin to lift off from their traditional places outside the territory of the figurative and swap their metaphysical properties for physical. Like so many golden frisbees, they take up dynamic positions generally poised at an often jaunty backward slant over the crown of the wearer’s head. Some are awkward ovals, others racy and bouyantly aslant, often in some contradiciton with the solemnity of a scene. Some retain their gilding, others are painted according to the laws of light and perspective, acquiring an intrusive physical presence, even going as far as to cast shadows on the heads below. Many retain their decorations, others are smooth, with dinner-plate reflections.
 |
Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Sienese school (b. 1439, Siena, d. 1502, Siena) seems to have experimented with many methods.
A. Nativity, c.1465. Very timidly three-dimensional haloes for Mary and Joseph and a full-body nimbus for the Infant.
B. Madonna and Child with Two Angels, 1465-66. Fully traditional (even archaic) intricately tooled haloes on a gold ground.
C. Madonna and Child with Angels, c. 1468. This fresco shows traditionally flat haloes. The Virgin’s halo is in « front » of the Child’s ; one wonders if a hierarchy of haloes was established to deal with this sort of compositional decision, or if it was up to the artist.
D. Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels, c. 1469. Tri-dimensionality more strongly affirmed.
E. Nativity, c. 1470. Only the lower portion of Mary’s halo remains, perhaps due to later overpainting.
F. Madonna and Child with an Angel, c. 1471. A return ( if the dates are correct) to traditional haloes, but painted with a far lighter touch.
G. This rather self-satisfied Madonna from 1472 has the most diaphanous of haloes composed of tiny dots of gold.
H. The Coronation of the Virgin, 1472-73. Haloes here seem to be of two types, nearly transparent on all of the onlookers, solid for Christ and absent for the Virgin. (Christ’s solid halo may be a later addition.) The vortex below God is an unusual treatment of the divine nimbus.
I. Madonna with Child and Two Saints, c. 1475. Reminiscent in treatmetn and composition to the earlier Madonna and Child with Two Angels.
J. & K. Nativity, 1475. Very weighty and solid gold haloes.
L. Back to diaphanous haloes in the Nativity from 1490-95.
M. Madonna and Child with two Saints, 1495. Only the circlets remain.
N. Virgin and Child with St Catherine and Angels, 1495. All present wear oval haloes composed of hundreds of tiny dots of gold with a double ring of dots delimiting the perimeter of each.
O. The Disrobing of Christ, c. 1501. A traditionally flat cruciform halo, but with a lighter treatment.
 |
 |
Andrea Del Castagno, Florentine school (b. 1423, Castagno, d. 1457, Firenze)
Left:
A. Crucifixion and Saints, fresco, Ospedale Santa Maria Nuova, Florence, 1440-41.
B. Detail. The very solid haloes resemble so many LP’s balanced on their bearer’s heads, complete with the reflections. (This is not a misguided attempt to be tongue-in-cheek; reflections of that nature can only be obtained by engraving a multitude of minuscule concentric lines, like the grooves on a record. Very curious.)
C. God the Father, fresco, San Zaccaria, Venice, 1442. A suitably grim-looking God, holding a globe marked “ASIA” and wearing a dark halo. It has perhaps turned dark with age.) Behind him, a triangular ground with radiating lines, recalling the equilaterally trianguar haloes symbolizing the Trinity.
D. Dormition of the Virgin, mosaic, Basilica di San Marco, Venice, 1442-43. Some juggling seems to have been necessary to the right to fit in the closely-packed crowd of apostles and their wide-brimmed haloes.
E. Detail from the Dormition of the Virgin. The presiding figure of Christ in Glory, with a three-dimensional crossed halo, framed by a vescia piscis with radiating rays, on a throne composed of clouds and cherubim.
F. Madonna and Child with Saints, fresco, c. 1445.
G. Christ in the Sepulchre with Two Angels, 1447.
H. Resurrection, fresco, 1447. An unusual clean-shaven Christ. His halo has likely faded over time.
Right:
A. The Last Supper, fresco, 1447.
B. Detail of four of the apostles. They seem to be wearing quite solid discs, with the exception of the disciple with his head titled back, who has a lighter, transparent halo filled with tiny gold dots. (For another detail, see Last Supper gallery, image C, in Part II)
C. Madonna and Child, fresco, c. 1450.
D. Our Lady of the Assumption with Saints Miniato and Julian, 1450. Unusual red haloes with flames in the lower portion.
E. Saint Julian and the Redeemer, fresco, c. 1453. Both are wearing very solid-looking and polished discs that reflect their heads.
F. The Holy Trinity, St Jerome and Two Saints, fresco, c. 1453.
G Detail. Christ wears a solid-looking golden disc with a cross that casts a dark shaow on his bowed head.
H. Crucifixion, c.1455. All present are wearing very solid haloes which appear as if they are sitting on the wearer’s heads.
 |
After a time, haloes become lighter, thin circlets filled with dots of light and finally are lightened still further to a thin filet of gold before disappearing altogether.
A. Cosimo Roselli, 1461, paints fine circlets which he fills with a multitude of tiny gold dots, in this Madonna Enthroned with Saints, from 1461.
B. Fra Filippo Lippi paints delicate circlets dotted with tiny gold stars.
C. Under Jacopo del Sellaio’s brush in this Saint John the Baptist circa 1485 has a fine circlet of light with a puddle of stars in the bottom.
D. Christ on the cross with Carthusian Saints, Marco Zoppo, circa 1465. Zoppo has created most unusual haloes that look like plexiglass discs; the thickness and hard edge is rendered most convincingly.
E. Saint Sebastian by Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio from the 1490’s has a halo of the greatest refinement.
 |
Sandro Boticelli (b. 1445, Firenze, d. 1510, Firenze)
A. Refined flat translucent halos with gold decoration.
B. Solid gold haloes for all.
C. Here, all three actors are wearing brilliantly polished haloes. (The vertically tilted halo of infant St. John is just visible down the right side of the image.)
D. Curiously dull but very three-dimensional haloes.
E. Mary has a semi-transparent halo, while the angel’s is a barely visible elipse.
F. Transparent discs decorated with sinuous golden rays and tiny dots.
G. Sinuous rays of gold for both haloes.
H. This festival of jauntily canted elipses is unexpectedly and oddly dynamic, hardly fitting with the scene’s atmosphere of solemn despair.
Carlo Crivelli, Italian, Venetian school (b. 1430/35, Venezia, d. 1495, Camerino, Marche) seems not to have abandoned haloes, but tried many different methods of depicting them. (Where he is consistent though, is in managing to put healthy amounts of fruit in most of his paintings of the Madonna.)
 |
 |
Left:
A. Madonna della Passione, 1460.
B: Flagellation, 1468.
C. Resurrection, 1468.
D. Annonciation, 1468.
E. Agony in the Garden, 1468.
F. Saint John, 1469.
G. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, circa 1470.
H. Saint Louis of Toulouse, circa 1470.
I. Pietà with Angels, circa 1470.
J. Pietà, circa 1470.
K. Madonna and Child, 1470.
Right:
A. Saint George, 1470.
B. Madonna and Child, 1470-73.
C. Madonna and Child with Saint Francis of Assisi, 1470-72.
D. Madonna and Child Enthroned with a Donor, 1470.
E. Virgin and Child, 1480.
F. Virgin and Child, 1482.
G. Apostle, 1473.
H. Saint Emidius, 1473.
I. Saint George, 1472.
J. Saint James the Younger, 1473.
K. Saint Jerome, 1473.
L: Saint John the Baptist, 1473.
M. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1473.
N. Madonna and Child, 1473.
O. Saint Paul, 1473.
P. Pietà, 1473.
 |
 |
Left:
A. Virgin and Child Enthroned, 1473.
B. Saint John the Evangelist, 1475.
C. Mary Magdalena, 1476.
D. Saint Dominic, 1476.
E. Saint Thomas of Aquinas, 1476.
F. Saint Jerome, 1476.
G. Saint Michael, 1477.
H. Virgin and Child, 1480-86.
I. Saint James, 1480.
J. Saint Francis of Assisi catches the blood of Christ in a chalice, 1480-86.
K. Saint Nicolas, 1480.
L. Annunciation, 1482.
M. Lamentation over the Dead Christ, 1485. Traditional haloes, despite the tortured faces and dynamic treatment (and the fruit.)
N & O. Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John the Evangelist, 1486. Very solid haloes – see the shadow cast by Christ’s on the cross.
Right:
A. Annunciation with Saint Emygdius of Ascoli Piceno, c. 1480.
B. Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints. 1488. A variety of careening haloes, with a shadow cast on the tonsure on the kneeling figure. (What to make of the pickle suspended to the left of the Throne, I have no idea. I wasn’t able to find much information on pickles in sacred art.)
C. Adoration of the Shepherds, 1490
D. Saint Roch, 1493
E. Saint George, 1490
F. Madonna Enthroned with Saints Jerome and Sebastian, 1490.
G. Saint Sebastian, 1490-91.
H. Madonna della Candeletta, 1490-92. Traditional halo for Mary, titled for the Christ Child.
I. Madonna Enthroned with Saints Francis and Sebastian, 1491.
J & K. Crowning of the Virgin, 1483. Some images are a festival of special effects. In the upper panel, Christ and his supporters have very three-dimensional haloes, his with the traditional cross. Their shadowing lends them a hollowed-out effect, like upended plates. The squadron of cherubim, playing instruments and holding a backdrop of a cloth of gold each have their own jaunty haloes, as do saints Vincent, John the Baptist and Catherine on the left, and Francis and Sebastian on the right. God himself leans out of a flattened mandorla crammed with haloed putti and ringed by shining rays.
L. Detail of Saints Vincent, John the Baptist and Catherine of Alexandria.
M. Pietà.
N. Saints Louis of Toulouse, Jerome and Peter, circa 1493.
O. Saints Paul, Hl. John Chrystostomus and Basilius, circa 1493.
 |
 |
Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian (b. 1449, Firenze, d. 1494, Firenze).
Left:
A. Saint Barbara, from the St Andrea Church, Cercina, 1471. A determined-looking Saint Barbara crushing her unfaithful father, holding her customary tower and wearing a very oval halo.
B. Madonna of Mercy, Ognissanti, Florence, c. 1472. Oval disc reflecting her veil.
C. Announcement of death to Saint Fina, c. 1473-75. A very classical flat halo.
D. Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, 1479. A collection of canted haloes, with the exception of the saint on the left, who has a flat halo to accommodate his mitre.
E. Last Supper, 1480. It is tempting to see in the semi-circle behind John’s head the compass stroke for a halo, finally not painted in for lack of room, or perhaps simply painted over at a later date. All the other Apostles (except Judas, naturally) have the lightest of oval circlets of gold. Christ’s halo casts a shadow on the panelling behind.
F. The Calling of the Apostles, Sistine Chapel, 1481. Another collection of oval golden haloes.
G. Coronation of the Virgin, 1486.
H. Last Supper, San Marco. 1486.
I. Another Last Supper, also from 1486, this time with John’s halo passes in front of Christ, whose own halo has an uncharacteristically awkward cross.
Right:
A. Madonna and Child Enthroned between Angels and Saints, 1486. Translucid haloes, with the exception of the two angels, who have aureoles.
B. Detail of one of the angels.
C. Adoration of the Magi, 1488. A transparent halo with alternating straight and sinuous rays.
D. Saint Stephen, 1490-94. A translucid halo with sinuous rays.
E. & F. Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Lawrence, 1490-98.
G. The Virgin and Child with Saints Apollonia and Sebastian by Davide Ghirlandaio, 1490-99. Golden oval haloes.
H. Visitation, 1491.
I. Nativity, 1492. Squiggly (for want of a better term) rays.
J. Christ in Heaven with Four Saints and a Donor. Circlets of gold.
Changing perspectives notwithstanding, haloes retain their original form in many Mediterranean nations far beyond their abandonment in the Italian city states and north of the Alps. Spanish painters continue placing traditional haloes on saints and angels as far as the end of the 1500’s. Byzantine painting also continues using two-dimensional haloes, the fixation with the form often roughly corresponding in those territories to the grudging abandonment on the Julian calendar for the Gregorian. The Russian, Greek, Armenian and other eastern orthodox churches of course continue employing them in icons; are an art form practiced in a fully continuous and little-changing manner. No attempt at « modernizing » has ever shaken the manner of painting or their interpretation and use. (Icons will hopefully be the subject of a future newsletter.)
 |
|
Benozzo Gozzoli, Florentine school (b. ca. 1420, Firenze, d. 1497, Pistoia)
Left:
A. Madonna and Child Giving Blessing, 1440. No mistaking identities for the Virgin who has MARIA VIRGO inscribed on her halo.
B. Women at the Tomb Convento di San Marco, 1440-41. Spoke-patterned halo.
C. Madonna and Child with Sts Francis and Bernardine, and Fra Jacopo, circa 1452.
D. Scenes from the Life of St Francis, Death of Saint Francis. Saint Francis’ halo presents a problem that Gozzoli does not really resolve, slipping it in as best he can betwen Francis’ head and the cushion.
E. Scenes from the Life of St Francis
F. Saint Jerome Pulling a Thorn from the Lion’s Paw, 1452.
G. Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Peter, Jerome, and Paul, 1456.
H. Madonna & Child, circa 1460. Besides the colorful cherubim, Gozzoli has put lettering not only in Mary’s plain halo, but has squeezed letters in between the arms of the cross in the Christ Child’s.
Right:
A. Descent from the Cross, from the Tabernacle of the Condemned, 1464-66. A selection of two-dimensinal chaloes with one exception on the youth nearest Christ, whose halo is slightly tilted. The halo of the man holding the pliers lower right passes in front of the forehead of the companion with whom he is conversing.
B. Saint Augustine cycle, Death of St Monica, 1464-65.
C. Saint Augustine cycle, St Augustine’s Vision of St Jerome, 1464-65. A classical halo to accommodate the voluminous mitre. Most mitres and crowns are accompanied by flat haloes, even with later painters.
D. Visit to the Monks of Mount Pisano, 1464-65.
E. Madonna and Child between St. Andrew and St. Prosper, 1466. All the principal actors have lettered haloes only the angels have plain versions.
F. The Birth of Mary, 1491. Infant Mary has lettering in her two-dimensional halo, while her mother has a three-dimensional halo of such mirror-smoothness it reflects the crown of her head and coif.
G. Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple, 1491. Joachim has a nimbus of rays rather than a halo.
H. The Meeting at the Golden Gate, 1491. He has retrieved a halo, though, albeit a transparent one. Anna, on the other hand, has a solid gold halo.
 |
Jacopo Bellini
A. Dead Christ in the Sepulchre, circa 1460. Christ has a semi-transparent two-dimensional halo with a discrete red cross.
B. Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels, circa 1460. Solid three-dimensional gold halo on both Christ and the supporting angels
C. Dead Christ Supported by the Madonna and Saint John, 1460. Discrete two-dimensional circlets of gold for all in this painting, akin to those employed by Flemsih painter Jan Provoost.
D. Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels, Polyptych of San Vincenzo Ferreri, 1464-68
E. Saint Sebastian, from the San Giobbe Altarpiece, 1487. Translucid two-dimensional haloes for Christ and the angels.
F. Portrait of Teodoro of Urbino, 1515, by Giovanni Bellini, with a very old-fashioned halo for the 16th century.
 |
 |
Jacopo Bellini (c. 1396 – c. 1470) and Giovanni Bellini (b. ca. 1426, Venezia, d. 1516, Venezia)
Left:
A series of Madonnas from Jacopo Bellini and his son Giovanni.
A. The Virgin and Child Adored by Lionello d’Este, Jacopo Bellini
B. Madonna and Child, 1448, Jacopo Bellini.
C. Madonna and Child, c. 1450, Jacopo Bellini.
D. Madonna and Child, c. 1450, Jacopo Bellini.
E. Madonna and Child, 1450-55. Giovanni Bellini
F. Madonna and Child Blessing, c. 1455, Jacopo Bellini
G. Madonna and Child, 1455. Giovanni Bellini
H. Madonna and Child, 1460-64, Giovanni Bellini.
I. Madonna With Child Blessing, 1460-64, Giovanni Bellini.
J. Madonna with the Child, 1460-64, Giovanni Bellini.
K. Madonna and Child, 1460-64, Giovanni Bellini.
L. Madonna and Child, 1460-64, Giovanni Bellini.
M. Madonna and Child, 1465, Jacopo Bellini.
Right:
A. Madonna, with Child Standing on a Parapet, 1460’s. Faint circlets
B. Madonna Enthroned Adoring the Sleeping Child, 1475. Madonna with an oval halo. This does seem a bit of an intrusion, the date may not be correct.
C. Madonna and Child, c. 1475. Faint circlets.
D. Madonna in Adoration of the Sleeping Child, c. 1475
E. Madonna and Child, c. 1475. No haloes here, though it’s tempting to imagine a bit of overpainting about the Virgin’s head.
F. Madonna and Child, c. 1475
G. Madonna adonna with Blessing Child, 1475-80
H. Madonna and Child, 1487. No trace of haloes.
I. Madonna of Red Cherubs, c.1485. Lovely crimson cherubim, but very faint haloes.
J. Madonna and Child, 1485-90. The faintest of traces of haloes.
K. The Alberetti Madonna, 1487. Haloes just visible.
L. Madonna and Child, 1487. Faint halo.
M. No halo in the Madonna of the Meadows, 1505, but I included it simply because, with the possible exception of the slightly uncomfortable rendering of the sleeping Child, it is simply an exquisite painting.
N. The Madonna with Child Blessing, 1510. The halo is practically lost in the brocade hanging.
 |
Francesco della Cossa, (b. ca. 1435, Ferrara, d. 1477, Bologna)
A. Virgin and Child. A slightly self-satisfied looking Virign and dozing Christ have classical haloes, as does the attendant seraph. Cossa seems to prefer red rims on his haloes.
B. Pieta. Here, he paints dynamically oval haloes; Christ’s is barely recognizeable as such.
C. A grim-looking Saint John the Baptist from the Griffoni Polyptych, 1473. Soild-looking slightly concave golden halo with a red rim.
D. Griffoni Polyptych: St Vincent Ferrer. Here, the artist has pushed realism as far as highlighting the glint on the rim of the halo.
E. Annunciation, 1470-1472. The Virgin has a tranlucent halo with a gold rim.
F. Detail of the Annunciation. Perhaps the MOST unusual halo of all, which seems to be affixed to the angel’s head with a frame, rather like those little hats with propellors on the top.
G. Saint Lucia, 1473. A traditional ornamented halo on a golden ground
H. Detail of Saint Lucia, and a rather disturbing one, holding her eyes delicately in one hand. (A compendium of strange and unusual image from Western religious art, if it hasn’t already been done, would be delightful to do. Regrettably, you just don’t find such things in contemporary religious art, where pious seems to equal consensual and inspid.)
 |
 |
Left:
Andrea Mantegna (b. 1431, Isola di Cartura, d. 1506, Mantova)
A. Saint Jerome in the Wilderness, 1431.
B. Saint Mark, 1450.
C. Adoration of th Shepherds, c. 1451-53.
D. San Luca Altarpiece Luke Writing down the Gospel, 1453.
E. San Luca Altarpiece, 1453.
F. Scenes from the Lives of the Saints, fresco, 1456.
G. Saint Sebastian, 1456-59.
H. Saint Sebastian, 1457-48.
I. & J. Calvary, 1457-60
K. The Zeno Polyptich, 1457-60. Detail of Madonna and Child
L. & M. The Zeno Polyptich, 1457-60. Detail of musician cherubim
N. The Zeno Polyptich, 1457-60. Detail of Saint John, with his exquisitely detailed halo.
O. The Zeno Polyptich, 1457-60. Saints Peter, Paul, John and Zeno.
Right:
A. Madonna of the Caves, c. 1460.
B. & C. The Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist, third quarter of the 15th century.
D, E. & F. The Virgin and Child with the Magdalen and Saint John the Baptist, 1490-1505.
G. Christ as the Suffering Redeemer, 1495-1500. (Also attributed to an imitator of Mantegna.)
H. & I. Madonna of Victory with Saints Ann, Michael, Andreas Longinus & George, c. 1496. Close-ups of Michael and George show very discrete filets of gold for all.
J. & K. Trivulzio Madonna & Child with Saints. 1497. The Madonna is enclosed in a vesica piscis of angels and clouds, the Child has a cruciform nimbus of rays.
L. The Adoration of the Magi, 1500.
M. Saint Sebastian, 1506.
N. Christ the Redeemer (undated).
 |
 |
Fra’ Filippo LIPPI (1406 – October 8, 1469), was born in Florence and died in mid-fresco in Spoleta, while working on the cathedral there. During a career spanning nearly four decades, he passed from two-dimensional gilded haloes to the finest of golden hoops.
Left:
A. Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, c. 1430. The most traditional of haloes, in relief, including a couple of awkward ones for the two kneeling angels in the foreground
B. Madonna and Child Enthroned with Two Angels, c. 1437.
C. Virgin and Child with Saints, Angels and Donor, c. 1437.
D. Madonna and Child with St Fredianus and St Augustine, 1437-38.
E. Annunciation, 1443.
F. Annunciation, c. 1445
G. Annunciation, 1445-50. (One wonders if the date ascribed is correct, or if the painter was dealing with a client with decidely old-fashioned tastes.)
H. The Virgin Appears to St Bernard, 1447.
I. Madonna and Child, 1440-45. Both haloes are composed to a myriad of tiny dots.
Right:
A. Seven Saints, 1448-50. Fully medieval gilded haloes.
B. Virgin with the Child and Scenes from the Life of St Anne, 1452. Diaphanous oval haloes of bright or golden dots.
C. Madonna del Ceppo, 1453. Medieval flat haloes.
D. Adoration of the Child, 1455. Flat haloes for all except the Child and the praying figure on the left, who have three-dimensional versions. Note the awkward halo of the angel with his back to the viewer.
E. Madonna in the Forest, c. 1460. The Madonna’s halo resembles a golden LP, while young Saint John the Baptist has a transparent (or at least dark) halo and God a fully classic crossed one.
F. Circumcision, 1460-64. Golden translucid and oval haloes for all. Discrete nimbi of golden rays for the two praying holy men in front.
G. Madonna and Child, 1460’s. Translucid oval haloes.
H. Madonna with the Child and two Angels, 1465. Fra’ Filippo Lippi’s most emblematic tableau, with the most delicate circlets of gold. If there could be a perfect Renaissance halo, in a perfect Renaissance setting, this one would be it.
It is truly a shame that none of these painters seem to have left us with their thoughts of these revolutionary changes that occured during their lifetimes.
It should be noted that patrons and painters were not necessarily as leery of touching art as we are today. Much overpainting was done, changs were often made decades or centuries later, to accommodate changing styles and tastes. Quite often, all that remains of substantial haloes are incised lines in overpainted gesso.
Naturally, the period best known as the Northern Renaissance faced similar problems of representation. On the whole, however, they dealt with it rather differently. As did, in their turn, the next painters to rediscover the virtues of haloes: the Pre-Raphaelites.
Next newsletter:
SAINT’S HALOES AND MOUSE’S EARS PART IV
Or Northern Lights, Baroque Solutions and Back To The Future
