Jtfltes 011 t|e 
 
 BY 
 
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 fat JrnmMm 
 
 BOLTON : 
 
 JOHN HEATON, PRINTER, DEANSGATE. 
 
 1854. 
 
£Ik |orb shall be to tbcc air eherlasHirg li$t, mtb 
 thir (ilob tbv cjlorg.’' 
 
 Isaiah lx. 19 . 
 
These “ Notes on the Nimbus/' which have been thrown 
 together during the intervals of a very engrossing business, 
 are merely suggestive of subjects which may prove to be 
 interesting to antiquaries. I do not publish the paper, 
 because it has no pretension to determine any of the points 
 advanced in it. 
 
 The engravings and wood cuts are accurately reproduced 
 from the authorities referred to, hut as these are in most 
 instances themselves only copies, their perfect accordance 
 with the originals cannot be vouched for; a circumstance 
 which I feel hound to suggest, as it materially affects the 
 value of the arguments which are in some degree founded 
 upon them, 
 
 iiltei |. JtMjr. 
 
 Thornidykes, Bolton, 
 August, 1854. 
 
fjta 01 % Himks. 
 
 From the earliest ages of symbolical art, it was a custom to 
 embellish the effigies of divine and saintly persons, with the 
 distinctive mark of a nimbus of fire or light, either emana¬ 
 ting from, or resting upon the head. The pagan gods of 
 antiquity were crowned with this fiery ornament, darting 
 beams of radiant splendour from the brows of the greater 
 divinities, or shedding a milder effulgence from the heads 
 of demi-gods and heroes. The origin of the custom is 
 hidden in the obscurity of antiquity j we can only conjecture 
 the circumstances which may have induced it, and en¬ 
 deavour to state such of them as appear to be probable 
 and reasonable, though in the attempt we may disappoint 
 many who can find no charm in symbolism when, unaccom¬ 
 panied hv mystery. 
 
 The sun is of all natural objects that which uneducated 
 humanity has in every age, and in almost all climes, looked 
 upon with the greatest awe and reverence. Before the 
 glorious rays of its light and heat—-the apparent material 
 source of life and vegetation—men willingly bent themselves 
 in adoration; and even when reason, and education, had 
 some-what influenced them with a knowledge of a spiritual 
 power, by which the sun itself was created and controlled, 
 many nations retained that luminary as the visible sign or 
 emblem of the unseen God, to whom, through it, they con¬ 
 tinued to offer sacrifice and worship. Rays of fire or of 
 
6 
 
 light thus naturally became emblems of divine power ; the 
 statues of pagan deities were clothed or armed with fiery 
 emanations; Jupiter bore the lightning, Apollo was crowned 
 with sunbeams, and Diana wore the crescent moon as a 
 diadem, while numerous persons of both sexes are fabled to 
 have been translated to the sky, there to sparkle for ever 
 as starry constellations. Eastern paganism invests its idols 
 even to the present day with similar attributes. The heads 
 of gods of Japan, fig. 1, and Burmah, fig. 2, are sur¬ 
 rounded by rays corresponding with those of the classical 
 Apollo, fig. 3. The Crowns worn by ancient eastern 
 potentates, fig. 4, were but materialized glories— the divine 
 emanations copied in burnished gold. 
 
 The Jews and Moslems though they do not represent 
 their prophets and law-givers with the nimbus, always 
 attribute to them this distinguishing ornament; the face of 
 Moses shone after his interview with the Almighty on Mount 
 Sinai j and a mysterious light radiated from the features of 
 Mahomet after the angel Gabriel had cleansed his heart 
 from impurity, by wringing from it the black and bitter 
 drops of original sin inherited from Adam. The Chinese 
 represent not only their deities but also their great lawgiver 
 and philosopher Confucius, fig. 5, with nimbi similar to 
 those on Christian saints and martyrs. 
 
 The assumption of the character of divinity with its 
 attendant attributes, was not uncommon with the ambitious 
 kings and heroes of antiquity, and may have led to the long 
 
 1. From an engraving of Chinese Deities in Picart’s Religious 
 Ceremonies, vol iv., p. 303. 
 
 2. Chinese Goddess Puzza. Engraved in Picart’s Religious Cere¬ 
 monies, vol. iv., p. 221. 
 
 3. Head of Apollo, with nimbus of seven rays, engraved hi Didron’s 
 Christian Iconography, p. 35. 
 
 4. Heraldic Celestial Crown of seven points. 
 
 5. Head of Confucius, from a Chinese picture, engraved in Picart’s 
 Religious Ceremonies, vol. iv., p. 210. 
 
3 
 
7 
 
 series of pagan reputed gods and demi-gods, believed in, and 
 worshipped by eminent gentile nations. Such assumption 
 may have been suggested, and very probably aided, by a 
 natural phenomenon, inexplicable to people ignorant of the 
 laws of science, but well calculated to strike them with 
 wonder and awe : sparks of electric fire may be emitted by 
 friction from the hair of many persons under certain cir¬ 
 cumstances : and it may have been a prosecution of this 
 idea which induced the Emperor Commodus to powder 
 his hair with gold dust, that while walking in the sun it 
 might appear to sparkle with supernatural fire : even in 
 comparatively recent times, a religious imposter in Turkey 
 is said to have succeeded in deluding many people into a 
 belief of his sanctity and divine power, by the use of phos¬ 
 phorus on his hair. But whatever its origin, the nimbus or 
 glory on the heads of powerful or pious persons, was a well 
 understood symbol, before the advent of Christ upon earth. 
 The poet Yirgil, who lived and died before that time, thus 
 exactly describes the appearance of a prophetic glory which 
 appeared on the head of the young Ascanius before the 
 flight from Troy. 
 
 “ Sudden a circling flame was seen to spread 
 With beams refulgent round Iuliu’s head ; 
 
 Then on his locks the lambent glory preys 
 And harmless fires around his temples blaze.”* 
 
 The nimbus was adopted as a religious symbol by the 
 early Christians, and examples of it exist in the Roman 
 catacombs, which are attributed to the sixth century. In 
 ancient illuminations, the wall paintings, and the stained 
 glass of old churches, heads of arch-angels, angels, evan¬ 
 gelists, apostles, saints, and martyrs, are usually encircled 
 by a ring of brilliant colour, assuming the appearance of 
 light, which is presumed to signify that as accepted servants 
 of the Almighty, they have been honored with this especial 
 * Pitt’s Yirgil’s Sinead, Book 2. 
 
mark of His favour. Circles of light are never placed on 
 the heads, of persons alive at the time of the representation 
 being made, however holy or powerful they may have been; 
 but there are a few examples remaining of men with the repu¬ 
 tation of great sanctity who were pictured when still in this 
 life with a glory of a square form.* The nimbus of departed 
 saints, when represented by painting, is sometimes merely 
 a thread of light bounding the outline, and entirely trans¬ 
 parent within, while in other instances the outline is marked 
 by numerous rays or beams of light, by flowers, stars, or 
 other ornaments ; when, however, the sculptor crowned his 
 workmanship with a nimbus, he was compelled to adopt a 
 different arrangement, and had recourse to a disk or plate of 
 metal, which could be richly ornamented with jewels, gilding, 
 and enamel, corresponding with, but surpassing in brilliancy, 
 the coloured decoration, at that time profusely lavished upon 
 the entire figure. The glass painters had it quite in their 
 power to represent a transparent nimbus, yet they, for the 
 most part, preferred an imitation of the opaque glory of the 
 statuary; indeed, figures in glass appear rather to have 
 been copied from stone sculptured images, than from the 
 human figure. 
 
 The nimbus was frequently made the medium of indicating 
 by its colour, or symbolical ornamentation, the person upon 
 whose head it was placed; thus the figure of the Blessed 
 Virgin was often crowned with a glory of blue enamel, bor¬ 
 dered with golden stars. The names of many saints were 
 also inscribed upon the margins of their respective nimbi. 
 Angels and arch-angels had usually within their nimbi 
 peculiar ornaments which probably indicated a distinctive 
 symbolism to be afterwards described. 
 
 From a natural desire to enhance the merits of their 
 founders and other eminent men, numbered by the Church 
 of Rome among her saints, the monastic orders frequently 
 * The square is an ancient symbol of the earth, and the circle of heaven. 
 
9 
 
 departed from the simplicity of early Christian symbolism, 
 and represented on their images and paintings attributes 
 approaching to those which have been considered peculiar 
 to the Deity, thus the nimbus was often, in such cases, 
 represented not as resting upon, but as proceeding from, 
 the heads of these highly honoured saints, an important 
 distinction which materially effects the symbolical meaning. 
 There is an example .of this extravagant practice in a 
 painting of St. Francis, where he is seen standing with 
 extended arms, as if on a cross, within an auriel composed 
 of seraphim; wounds on his side, hands, and feet, similar to 
 those of the crucified Jesus;—emitting rays of light; the 
 head surrounded by a brilliant glory, and attended by three 
 angels in attitudes of profound adoration; almost all the 
 attributes which could make St. Francis equal to the Saviour 
 are heaped into the picture :* but in this case, as in every 
 other instance of similar overstretched symbolism, there is 
 omitted one distinctive mark of divinity with which the most 
 enthusiastic artistic devotee has never ventured to invest the 
 object of his veneration. 
 
 When the Deity is represented in mediaeval art, under 
 the likeness of humanity, the head is usually surrounded by 
 a nimbus similar in form to those which crown the heads 
 of apostles and saints, but with the addition of certain 
 lines or figures so disposed as to suggest the idea of a cross 
 within its circumference. This is known to archaeologists 
 as the cruciform, cruciferous, or crossed nimbus; names 
 which are adopted by almost all modern writers on Christian 
 symbolism, and by many, if not all, of the antiquarian and 
 archaeological societies of the present time. This distinguish¬ 
 ing nimbus is invariably confined to representations of the 
 three divine personages of the Floly Trinity, whether they 
 
 * Picture of St. Prancis by Sassetta, engraved in Rossini’s “ Storria 
 della Pittura,” plate 50. See also Mrs. Jameson’s “ Legends of the 
 Monastic orders,” page 50. 
 
10 
 
 are figured as human beings or symbolically indicated, as a 
 Hand in act of blessing, as a Lamb, or as a Dove. 
 
 The arrangement is thus described by M. Didron, who 
 has devoted much skill, energy, and learning, to the elucida¬ 
 tion of the subject. “ When the nimbus is circular, and 
 belongs to one of the persons of the Holy Trinity, it is 
 always, unless the omission arises from the ignorance of the 
 artist, divided by two lines drawn from the outer edges, and 
 intersecting each other at right angles in the centre, these 
 lines form four rays, but one of them, the lowest, is con¬ 
 cealed by the head.”* The intention of the arrangement is 
 further described by the same author; “ The supreme head 
 of all, God the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Ghost, had 
 a circular nimbus, a disk precisely resembling that of the 
 saints; but the nimbus of the divine persons was, as a mark 
 of special distinction, divided diagonally by two intersecting 
 lines in the form of a cross.”f It would thus appear that 
 the cross, the well-known emblem of Christianity, was 
 adopted by ancient religious artists to indicate the repre¬ 
 sentations of the Deity, and this idea is undoubtedly 
 accepted at the present time by the all but universal use of 
 the term “ cruciform nimbus” whenever it is referred to. 
 It is one object of this brief paper to suggest that an entirely 
 different meaning was intended by the ancient artist in 
 painting the divine nimbus, and that the modern name is 
 objectionable, as conveying an erroneous idea. 
 
 Though always a divine, this, so called cruciform nimbus, 
 is not an exclusively Christian emblem. Like the nimbi of 
 the saints it was used by, and probably originated with, the 
 eastern pagans. The Hindoo goddess Maya, fig. 6, is 
 figured with a large circular nimbus of beams radiating 
 
 * Didron’s Christian Iconography, page 32. 
 
 t Do. do. page 99. 
 
 6. Traced from the engraving of the Hindoo Goddess Maya, in 
 Didion’s Christian Iconography, page 41. 
 
*• w 
 

 
 
11 
 
 from the head, among which are distinctly marked three 
 rays of greater brilliancy or importance, corresponding in 
 character and form with those which we find similarly placed 
 on the heads of the persons of the Holy Trinity. Whatever 
 therefore its purpose, or its origin, this peculiarly marked 
 nimbus appears to be common to pagan as well as to Chris¬ 
 tian religion; and also in both cases distinctive of, and 
 peculiar to, the divinity. 
 
 The idea usually conveyed to the mind by the appearance 
 of the nimbus on the heads of pagan deities, is that of fire, 
 each flame like emanation for the most part converging to 
 a point, but on the heads of the Christian Trinity the rays 
 more frequently diverge from the head to the edge of the 
 nimbus, and thus present the appearance and effect of light 
 rather than of fire. The nimbus of the Hindoo goddess Maya, 
 fig. 6, is however an exception to this rule, which, although 
 generally applicable, is by no means universal; it is however 
 worth notice, as it appears to distinguish the worship of 
 paganism with its confined objects, and material sacrifices, 
 accompanied by, and accomplished through, the medium of 
 fire, from the expanding influences of revealed religion, 
 which have diffused the blessings of impalpable light and 
 knowledge over humanity, and thus become truthful images 
 of its spiritual sacrifice and worship. 
 
 Allusion has already been made to the reverence and 
 adoration with which many ancient nations regarded the 
 sun; human eyes cannot look upon the unmitigated splen¬ 
 dour of its rays with impunity, therefore to prostrate himself 
 upon the earth, or to veil his head when worshipping, was a 
 practice, under the circumstances, most natural to man. 
 
 It is also entirely consonant with scripture to associate 
 the idea of intense light with the presence of God. In this 
 way He revealed Himself to Moses and the Israelites. To 
 St. Paul He manifested Himself as “ a great light shining 
 from heaven,” so great that the Apostle “ could not see for 
 
12 
 
 the glory of that light.” The Saviour is described in scrip¬ 
 ture, with reference to the Father, as “ the brightness of 
 His glory,” and, of the Holy Spirit, we are told that when 
 descending on the congregated apostles and converts on the 
 day of Pentecost, “ there appeared unto _them cloven 
 tongues as of fire.” 
 
 While therefore we are assured that no man can “look 
 upon the face of God and live,” and we know that neither 
 can he endure to look upon the brightness of the sun, it is 
 strictly in accordance with natural as well as revealed 
 religion, that he should express his humility and reverence 
 by prostration, by averting the eyes, or covering them 
 from the awful brightness of the divine glory, when 
 approaching the presence of his God. This has been an 
 almost universal practice, though the nations of different 
 climates have adopted varied means of expressing the idea; 
 we are told that “The Romans, after they had washed 
 themselves, always covered their heads when they approach¬ 
 ed any of the deities,” . . “ to be covered or veiled while 
 they were praying to their gods was a general practice among 
 them. . . Covering the head was observed as an essential 
 part of religious worship. The Jews to this day keep 
 their heads covered with a veil during all the time of public 
 devotion in their synagogues, as they did formerly. The 
 Turks, who profess a religion for which they are in good 
 measure indebted to the Jews, imitate them likewise in 
 remaining covered during the time of divine service in their 
 mosques.” . . “ It is very probable that the use of 
 
 veils was first introduced to hinder our thoughts from wan¬ 
 dering upon external objects during religious worship, and 
 perhaps to intimate how unworthy we are of beholding the 
 deity.”* 
 
 It would be easy to offer additional evidence of this 
 custom which is clearly consonant with a becoming humility 
 * Picart’s Religious Ceremonies, vol. i., p. 12. 
 

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 of religious feeling, though its practice has been some¬ 
 what modified in these later days. Since the invention of 
 printing, the educated worshipper, if a Jew, though still 
 retaining the taled on his head, does not cover his eyes with 
 it, nor do Christians always shroud themselves in a monk’s 
 cowl or a nun’s veil; the spirit of the ancient custom 
 is however retained by the reasonable practice of fixing the 
 eyes and attention on the prayer book. 
 
 If then we look at the sun, the moon, or any brilliant 
 artificial light under the same circumstances as those with 
 which the ancient pagan or Jew approached his Deity; 
 that is with the eyes covered with a veil, or half-closed, it 
 <o\|| immediately presents the appearance of emitting 
 ==s A ^ clustered rays of light at right angles, corres- 
 ponding with those passing from the Hindoo 
 
 * goddess Maya, fig. 6, and from the numberless 
 
 Fig* 7. . . s 
 
 representations of the Deity produced by Chris¬ 
 tian Mediaeval artists. This curious optical fact may be 
 verified by the simplest means: it is requisite that the 
 texture of the veil should be rather open, with the threads 
 crossing each other at right angles; (a portion of material 
 of suitable texture, which is also presumed to be somewhat 
 similar to early woven fabrics, is introduced,) it should be 
 held close to the eyes, and if an artificial light be looked at, 
 there should be but one in the room, placed at least a few 
 yards distant from the observer. When the object is looked 
 at with half-closed eyes, the streams of light are somewhat 
 less regularly disposed, and those in a vertical position are 
 longer than the horizontal rays, there can however be no 
 difficulty in detecting the effect.* 
 
 Without presuming to offer any scientific explanation of 
 this curious optical phenomenon, it may be proper to add 
 
 * This origin of the (so called) crossed nimbus, was suggested in a 
 brief communication by the author, which appeared in the Athenseum of 
 the 11th October, 1845. 
 
14 
 
 that rays of light transmitted through certain natural 
 crystals, gums, and liquids, arrange themselves in singular 
 figures of varied form, but very generally corresponding 
 with the rays found within the divine nimbus: the limbs 
 however are always four in number, 
 thus forming a true cross: of these 
 two examples are given, figs. 8 and 9, 
 one shows a black rectangular cross, 
 with the arms meeting in the centre; 
 the other shows the cross formed by 
 the absence of colour in a portion of 
 the circles. This is a comparatively 
 recent discovery in optics, and does 
 not bear any analogy—beyond a cu¬ 
 rious coincidence—with the rays in the 
 divine nimbus; the origin of which, 
 may, it is presumed, be reasonably 
 attributed to the sun seen through 
 the veils, or with the half-closed eyes 
 of humble worshippers. 
 
 We venture, though with some diffidence, to hazard the 
 opinion, that with occasional, but very rare exceptions, the 
 mediaeval Christian artist when painting the nimbus of the 
 Deity, did not intend to represent, or at all refer to the 
 cross: but that his purpose was to demonstrate, by three 
 rays of light proceeding from the divine head, that the one 
 person represented was invested with the power, and the 
 glory, as well as the identity, of the other persons forming 
 the Holy Trinity. 
 
 However appropriate as an emblem of the Son of God, 
 the Saviour of the world, who for men’s sins suffered death 
 upon it, the cross has not the same apt and significant mean¬ 
 ing with reference to the Father and to the Holy Spirit: to 
 them it would be quite as inappropriate as to the Buddhist 
 
 Figs. 8 and 9. Sir David Brewster’s System of Optics, pp. 250, 251. 
 
15 
 
 and Hindoo divinities, whose heads are invested with an 
 ornament similar to that which the Christian artist placed 
 upon the persons of the Holy Trinity, when represented 
 together under the semblance of humanity. Of this two 
 
 examples are given, 
 figs. 10 and 11, 
 which sufficiently 
 show that whatever 
 the symbolical 
 meaning of the 
 Jig. io. three rayed orna¬ 
 
 ments, it must be one alike applicable 
 to the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Spirit, because they are each 
 invested with it, and that too without 
 the slightest distinguishing difference. 
 It would be easy to adduce numerous 
 additional examples of the same kind,* 
 and to support this part of the argument, by figuring the 
 gross representations of the Holy Trinity which dis¬ 
 graced the latter days of mediaeval religious art, such, as 
 three heads on one body, and three faces on one head, 
 surrounded by one nimbus, encompassing three rays; or, by 
 the no less objectionable pictures of the Supreme Father 
 clothed as an ancient Pope, supporting on his knees the 
 figure of the Son the Saviour, extended upon a cross in the 
 agony of death, while the Holy Spirit, as a dove, passes 
 between them; the heads being all similarly nimbed and 
 
 Pig. 10. The Holy Trinity. From a French M. S. in the Royal 
 Library. Engraved in Bidron’s Christian Iconography, page 435. 
 
 Fig. 11. The Holy Trinity. From a French miniature of the 14th 
 century. Engraved in Didron’s Christian Iconography, page 471. 
 
 * Numerous engravings of this kind may be met with in M. Didron’s 
 Christian Iconography, under the head of the nimbus of the Trinity. They 
 must be looked for however in the French edition of the work, as they axe 
 omitted from the translation published by Mr. Bohn. 
 
16 
 
 marked with the divine rays; but I decline for obvious 
 
 reasons to reproduce such monstrous and 
 irreverent illustrations. An example is 
 however given of the Holy Father bearing 
 
 the nimbus in the very demonstrative form 
 of a triangle. Fig. 12. 
 
 In one of the ancient “mysteries” or “miracle plays,” once 
 so popular in England, called “ A Council of the Trinity, 
 and the Incarnation,” there is a note, or stage direction 
 which elucidates this subject, by shewing that three, and 
 not four, beams of light were employed to demonstrate the 
 presence of God. The arch-angel Gabriel has announced 
 to the Virgin Mary the intended incarnation, and received 
 her assent, when the following sentence occurs within a 
 parenthesis. 
 
 (“ tl)e Ijolp go sit tfcscenifit, fantf) M5 temps, to o’ latp ; 
 tl)c Soitc of tljc <©obi)fb, nest hull) ttfi temps to tlje fjolp gost; 
 tlje Itabbpr goblp bittf) Hit temps, to tlje sottc; $nt» So entre 
 all tljre, to Ijer toSom, . . . ”)* 
 
 A fourth limb or ray in the nimbus of the Saviour, is 
 
 very rare, and of doubtful authority. 
 M. Didron figures only one example, 
 No. 13, taken from the stalls in the 
 Cathedral of Amiens, erected in the 16th 
 century, at which time the spirit of Chris¬ 
 tian symbolism had greatly degenerated 
 from its early purity and simplicity. The 
 Saviour is represented as seen from be- 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 hind, a position very unusual, if not unique, and the nimbus. 
 
 Fig. 12. The Almighty Father, From an early Italian painting on 
 wood. Engraved in Agineourt’s History of Art, vol. iii., plate cxi. 
 
 * Hone’s “ Ancient Mysteries described” from Cotton M. S. pageant 
 xi. page 38. 
 
 Fig. 13. Head of our Lord, from the Stalls of the Cathedral at 
 Amiens. From an engraving in Didron’s Christian Iconography, p. 102. 
 
17 
 
 if such be intended, is placed upon the head like a cap, the 
 top of which is ornamented with a braided or embroidered 
 device, in some degree resembling a cross, but which may be 
 easily mistaken for a merely fanciful arrangement of pattern. 
 
 In representations of the Veronica, there is an opportunity 
 of displaying a fourth limb, and every inducement to indicate 
 a cross, fig. 14, were such intended, but three rays only are 
 found in the examples of this subject. 
 
 The head of our Lord was often engraved in the centre of 
 the Patens of old Church Plate, but here, also, as in the 
 Veronica, it is unusual to meet with more than three limbs ; 
 there is an instance of a fourth limb on the Paten still in use 
 at Pilton Church, Somersetshire, but it is of comparatively 
 recent date, and so poorly executed, that it may well be 
 supposed the result of a mistake in the hands of some 
 illiterate artist. Many other examples have no fourth limb, 
 though offering equal facilities for its display.* 
 
 Italian artists sometimes placed the capital letters B .E.X. 
 expressive of the royal dignity of the Saviour, one on each 
 of the three rays in the nimbus. In the same way the 
 
 Byzantine artists were accustomed to use the 
 three Greek letters, Omeron, Omega, and Nu, 
 fig. 15, signifying, when united, the words 
 “ I, AM/’ by which the Lord revealed Himself 
 to Moses from the burning bush. In each case, 
 the sense of the inscription is completed by 
 the use of three letters ; had a fourth ray been 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 intended, even though concealed, it appears at least probable 
 that it would have been supplied by some understood letter, 
 in an appropriate inscription; by the ordinary arrangement. 
 
 Fig. 14. Veronica. From the Nuremberg Chronicle. 
 
 Fig. 15. Jesus Christ, with a Greek nimbus. Engraved in Didron’s 
 Christian Iconography, p. 43. 
 
 * Vide specimens of ancient Church plate, published by J. H. Parker, 
 
 Oxford, 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 however, three letters and three rays are sufficient to make 
 the subject complete and perfect. 
 
 In the example, fig. 15, it will be observed that a fourth 
 ray might have been indicated by continuing one of the ver¬ 
 tical lines under the beard, had the artist desired to represent 
 a cross. Lest this should be thought a rare and exceptional 
 instance, several examples of a similar kind are given, in which 
 
 Fig 16. Fig. 17. Fig. 18. 
 
 the omission of any indication of a fourth 
 limb is evidently intentional. The 
 position of the head is indeed 
 rarely such as to allow any space 
 whatever for the display of a 
 fourth ray, and in most of the 
 examples engraved, that space is extremely small. Yet, when 
 Ave remember the importance of the cross in the eyes of the 
 mediaeval artists, Ave cannot suppose that they systematically 
 omitted its representation when they could by any means 
 carry it out, and we are constrained to believe that they did 
 
 Fig. 16. From a French Miniature of the 13th century. Engraved in 
 Didron’s Christian Iconography, p. 214. 
 
 Fig. 17. From an Italian Miniature of the 14th century. Engraved in 
 Didron’s Christian Iconography, p. 304. 
 
 Fig. 18. From a Fresco of the Basilica of St. Paid, of the 12th cen¬ 
 tury. Engraved hi Agincourt’s History of Art, vol. iii., plate 96. 
 
 Fig. 19. Head of the Saviour. From a MS. of the 11th century, hi 
 the British Museum. Engraved in Twining’s “ Symbols of Mediaeval Art.” 
 
 Fig. 20. Head of the Infant Saviour. From a wall painting hi St. 
 John’s Church, Winchester. Engraved in the Journal of the British 
 Archaeological Association, vol. ix., plate 6. 
 
10 
 
 not, as a rule, desire to display that symbol within the nimbus 
 of the Deity, since we do not find ancient examples with 
 a fourth ray, either in number or importance, at all to be 
 compared with the numerous instances in which it is inten¬ 
 tionally absent. 
 
 That the ancient artists purposely omitted to represent a 
 fourth ray in the divine nimbus in the examples, admitting 
 of its indication which have been figured above, may be 
 assumed from fig. 39, in which the position of the head is 
 such as to allow a mere indication only, of the third ray, 
 but even in this most unfavourable arrangement that third 
 ray is very carefully introduced. 
 
 Fig. 21. Head of the Infant Saviour. From an ancient Greek painting. 
 Agincourt, plate 87. Said to be “ carefully traced from the original.” 
 
 Fig. 39. From a wall painting in St. John’s Church, Winchester. 
 Engraved in the Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. ix. 
 
20 
 
 The Almighty Father is frequently represented symboli¬ 
 cally by a hand proceeding from clouds, in the act of blessing. 
 This symbol is usually surrounded by a nimbus, containing 
 the three divine rays, a fourth ray is of very rare occurrence; 
 the place it would occupy is indeed usually covered by the 
 wrist, but in the example, fig. 29, it may be seen that there 
 is space sufficient for its indication on each side of the hand, 
 and it is presumed that had a cross been intended, that 
 space Avould have been occupied by the fourth limb. The 
 wood-cut is taken from a miniature of the ninth century, 
 
 representing the martyrdom of 
 St. Stephen, who appears to be 
 gazing into the opening heaven, 
 from which the hand of God is 
 extended towards him. The 
 blessing and support afforded to 
 St. Stephen, at the time of his 
 extreme suffering, by the appear¬ 
 ance of the hand of the Almighty 
 emitting three beams of light, 
 expressive of the presence and interest of the Holy Trinity, 
 has an evident completeness and propriety, which is certainly 
 wanting if we can suppose the subject to represent merely 
 the hand of the Father resting upon the cross of the Son, 
 without any indication of the presence of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 That the mediaeval artist had no difficulty in representing the 
 cross in connection with the hand when he desired to do so, 
 may be seen from the example, fig. 30, in which the wounded 
 hand of the Saviour is shown to emit four rays, forming 
 that symbol. In such a situation, a cross is entirely 
 appropriate. Three rays so placed would be altogether 
 incongruous, since the wounds and the cross are alike 
 
 Fig. 29. The Divine Hand; with a (so-called) cruciform nimbus. 
 Engraved in Didron’s Christian Iconography, p. 55, from a miniature of 
 the ninth century. 
 
21 
 
 peculiar to the Son of God, while a cross on any represen¬ 
 tation of the Father or of the Holy 
 Spirit, must for the same reason be 
 equally objectionable. 
 
 The Dove, symbolical of the Holy 
 Spirit, is usually figured in old illu¬ 
 minations and stained glass, with the 
 circular nimbus containing either two 
 or three, but never four rays; the bill 
 of the bird often occupies the place of 
 the third ray; the fourth, if we can 
 suppose such to be intended, would 
 in most cases be covered by the 
 neck. The trine arrangement 
 is well indicated by an example 
 from the Chaise Dieu tapestry, 
 fig. 31, where the Dove has the 
 head surrounded by a nimbus 
 containing three fleur-de-lis, all 
 pointing upwards, while three 
 flame-like rays proceed in the 
 same direction, from the boun¬ 
 dary of the nimbus, neither of 
 these groups at all resembling a 
 Fig. 3i. cross. 
 
 In another example, from a Saxon MS. of the eleventh 
 century, fig. 32, three rays pass beyond the boundary of the 
 circular nimbus; a fourth, had such been desired, could have 
 been easily indicated in the same line with that which 
 proceeds from the bill, its absence under the circumstances 
 shows that the artist did not intend to represent a cross. 
 
 Fig. 30. The hand of Christ, symbolical of his passion. Engraved in 
 Twining’ s “ Symbols and Emblems of Mediaeval Christian Art,” plate 19. 
 From a MS. book of hours of the 15th century, in the British Museum. 
 
 Fig. 31. The Holy Spirit descending on the Virgin and Apostles 
 From an engraving of the “ Tapisseries de la Chaise Dieu.” 
 
22 
 
 Fig. 32. 
 
 The Holy Spirit, as well as the Almighty Father, was 
 sometimes, though rarely, represented with a 
 triangular nimbus, fig. 33, sufficiently ex¬ 
 pressive of its reference to the Trinity. 
 
 The same allusion is indicated by the trine 
 arrangement of three groups of rays pro¬ 
 ceeding from the descending dove, fig. 34, 
 in a wood carving of the fourteenth century, 
 representing the baptism of our Lord : and 
 by the three beams upon which 
 the Holy Spirit descends from 
 heaven, to the tri-nimbed head 
 of the Saviour, in another re¬ 
 presentation, fig. 35, of the 
 same subject. These exam¬ 
 ples are all indications of the same idea : 
 the actual presence of the Holy Trinity 
 in the one person represented or sym¬ 
 bolized, without any reference whatever 
 to the Cross of our Lord’s passion. 
 
 St. John the Baptist announced the 
 presence cf the Saviour in the words “ Behold the Lamb of 
 God,” and the Lamb has been accepted as the symbol of Jesus 
 from the earliest period of Christian art to the present time. 
 Very early representations of the Lamb have been met with, 
 bearing on its forehead the passion cross, without any nimbus, 
 and also with the Greek Monogram, of Christ between the 
 letters Alpha and Omega, surrounded by a nimbus. A staff 
 
 Fig, 32. Engraved in Trvining’s “ Symbols and Emblems of Mediaeval 
 Christian Art,” plate 35, page 72. Explained to be “The Holy Spirit with 
 the crossed nimbus.” From a Saxon MS. of the eleventh century, hr the 
 Eritish Museum. 
 
 Fig. 33. From a Mosaic in the Cathedral of Capua. Engraved in 
 Twining’s “ Symbols and Emblems of Mediaeval Christian Art,” plate 24. 
 
 Fig. 34. Engraved in the French edition (only) of Didron’s Christian 
 Iconography, p. 545. 
 
23 
 
 surmounted by a cross is frequently placed beside, or sup¬ 
 ported by the Lamb. All these 
 attributes, however, are peculiar 
 to the Second Person of the 
 Trinity, and have a significant 
 meaning altogether different from, 
 and independent of, the three 
 rayed nimbus. This emblem of 
 the Triune Deity is found on the 
 head of the Agnus Dei as on the 
 other divine symbols without any 
 indication of a fourth limb or ray, 
 necessary to form the cross. Ex¬ 
 amples are given, figs. 36, 37, 38, 
 in which that fourth limb might 
 have been indicated, had the representation of a cross 
 been intended. 
 
 The Saviour is sometimes represented bearing His cross, 
 
 Fig. 35 A Engraved in Aginconrt’s History of Art, vol. iii., plate 39. 
 
 Fig. 36. Lamb, -with nimbus, containing a cross in each division, from 
 a sculpture in the catacombs of Rome. Engraved in Twining’s symbols of 
 early Christian Art, plate 10. 
 
 Fig. 37. Agnus Dei. Engraved in Twining’s symbols of early Chris¬ 
 tian Art, plate 10. 
 
 Fig. 38. Engraved in Twining’s “ Symbols and Emblems of Mediaeval 
 Christian Art,” plate 10. From painted glass of the thirteenth century, 
 in the Cathedral of Bourges. 
 
24 
 
 an action which appears sufficient to identify His person. 
 He is nevertheless still invested with a divine nimbus, 
 which if it referred to the cross only, would in such circum¬ 
 stances he superfluous. In the example, fig. 40, the arms 
 
 of the cross are curiously indi¬ 
 cated by lines nearly parallel with 
 the rays in the nimbus: the 
 symbol, and the subject sym¬ 
 bolized, would scarcely be pictured 
 in such close proximity. The 
 three-rayed nimbus, however, 
 demonstrates the divinity of the 
 Saviour, and also the doctrine of 
 the Trinity. 
 
 In examples of the Divine nim¬ 
 bus from French authorities, the 
 rays very often assume the form 
 of the fleur-de-lis, a well-known 
 national emblem, which is probably itself a symbol of the Trin¬ 
 ity. Fig. 41 presents an instance 
 in which the rays do not appear as 
 being behind the head of our Lord, 
 but as absolutely passing from, 
 amidst the hair, this is most clearly 
 marked in the upper ray. 
 
 Sometimes the three rays of the 
 Divine nimbus, all point, more or 
 less, upwards, fig. 42. This ar¬ 
 rangement is somewhat in favour 
 of the idea that, with the addition 
 
 Fig. 40. 
 
 Fig. 40. Christ bearing his cross. From a window of the thirteenth 
 century. Engraved in Twining’s “ Emblems and Symbols of Mediaeval 
 Christian Art,” plate 20. 
 
 Fig. 41. The head of our Lord, with rays of fleur-de-lis. From an 
 engraving of the “ Tapisseries de la Chaise Dieu,” plate 3. 
 
 Fig. 42. Bas-relief on a silver reliquary. Engraved in Agincourt’s 
 History of Art, vol. ii., plate 21. 
 
25 
 
 of a fourth limb, a cross was intended to be represented, 
 because sucb a form would be available for tbe purpose of 
 crucifixion, and is in fact a kind of cross often found in old 
 pictures, but we also meet with instances in which tbe rays 
 are so expressly indicative of light, fig. 43, that we can 
 scarcely doubt that the artists intended to convey that idea 
 rather than the figure of a material cross. 
 
 Instances also occur in which the two rays usually placed 
 in a horizontal direction, are made to point downwards, 
 fig. 44, this arrangement, with the addition of a fourth limb, 
 would not form an instrument practicable for crucifixion, 
 nor would it correspond with any known form of the cross, 
 including the numerous fanciful varieties into which this 
 emblem has been tortured by the ingenuity of heraldic 
 painters. The late Mr. Pugin suggests this arrangement as 
 a proper nimbus for the head of the Eternal Father, but, as 
 has been already explained, there is in mediaeval examples 
 a perfect identity in the nimbi of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Spirit. The depressed nimbus, is rarely met with, but it 
 occurs on the head of the Son, fig. 45, as well as the Father. 
 
 Fig. 23. From an early painting of the interment of onr Lord. En¬ 
 graved in Aginconrt’s History of Art, vol. iii. plate 105. 
 
 Fig. 24. From a Mosaic by Gaddo Gaddi. Engraved in Aginconrt’s 
 History of Art, vol. iii., plate 18. 
 
 Fig. 25. From a painting of the Infant Saviour presented to Simeon. 
 Engraved in Agincourt’s History of Art, vol. iii., page 201. 
 
 Fig. 26. From a drawing of the Crucifixion, thirteenth century. En¬ 
 graved in Agincourt’s History of Art, vol. iii., plate 105. 
 
 Fig. 27. From a miniature of the eleventh century. Engraved in 
 Agincourt’s History of Art, vol. iii., plate 53. 
 
 Fig. 28. From a painting on wood, attributed to St. Luke. Engraved 
 in Agincourt’s History of Art, vol. ii., plate 105. 
 
 Fig. 43. Infant Saviour. From a picture of the Milanese School. 
 Engraved in Mrs. Jameson’s Legends of the Madonna, p. 268. 
 
 Fig. 44. From CcecLmon’s Scripture History, a MS. of the tenth cen¬ 
 tury, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Engraved in the Archaeology, vol. 24. 
 
 Fig. 45. Do. do. do. 
 
20 
 
 In addition to the peculiar arrangement of the horizontal 
 rays, the last illustration is another instance of space for 
 a fourth limb, without any indication of an intention to 
 
 figure a cross. 
 
 There are numerous instances, of which some examples 
 are given, figs. 46, 47, 48, 49, in which the centre of the 
 
 Fig. 46. 
 
 nimbus does not coincide with the point from which 
 the raysproceed, that point being placed so low, that 
 a fourth limb, if intended, would be much shorter 
 than the three rays indicated, and if thus com- 
 Fig- 49. pleted, would not accord with any known variety 
 of the cross. Fig. 50 displays this peculiarity on the head of 
 the infant Saviour, and in addition the star of the nativity, 
 resting upon three rays of light, passing from heaven to 
 Bethlehem. 
 
 In other examples, the point from which the rays pro¬ 
 ceed is placed above the centre of the nimbus, fig. 51, 
 by this arrangement a fourth limb, if supplied, would form a 
 Latin cross, the fourth limb being longer than the others, 
 it is however, of very rare occurrence. M. Didron gives an 
 example of an elevated nimbus on a figure of our Lord 
 sitting in judgment, from a fresco of the eleventh century, 
 in the transept of the church of Montoire, near Yendome, 
 
 Fig. 46. Head of our Lord, from an early Black Letter Life of Christ. 
 Fig. 48. From an early Black Letter Life of Christ. 
 
 Fig. 49. Head of the Infant Saviour. Do. do. 
 
27 
 
 in which the centre of the circular nimbus is placed above 
 the apex of the head; the three rays are seen to meet at 
 this point, and present an appearance exactly similar to the 
 
 bands upon the orb so often 
 represented in the hands of 
 the Eternal Father, and of 
 Jesus Christ, and to the 
 similar mound placed in the 
 hands of Christian sovereigns 
 at their coronation. M. Di- 
 dron assumes that the orb, 
 and not a nimbus, is in this 
 instance intended, and re¬ 
 marks that “ Christ would 
 thus appear to support the 
 world on his head; and this 
 circled sphere carries us back 
 immediately to Egyptian 
 Iconography, in which we 
 meet with numerous person¬ 
 ages bearing the world upon their 
 heads in a similar manner.”* A 
 reference to the engraving, which 
 has been carefully reproduced, fig. 
 52, will show, that this ingenuous 
 theory is altogether untenable. So 
 far from our Lord supporting the 
 world upon His head, He in fact 
 rests His feet upon the earth as 
 
 Fig. 50. 
 
 Fig. 50. Engraved in Aginconrt’s History of Art, vol. iii., plate 59. 
 From a Greek MS. of the Evangelists, of the twelfth century, in the Library 
 of the Yatican. 
 
 Fig. 51. Engraved hi Agincourt’s History of Art, vol. iii., plate 39. 
 From a Lathi MS. of the ninth century, in the Library of Minerva, at Rome. 
 * Didron’s Christian Iconography, p. 45. 
 
28 
 
 “ His footstoolan arrangement far from uncommon in 
 Mediaeval illustrations of the last judgment. The rays upon 
 the nimbus indeed exactly correspond with the bands upon 
 the imperial orb, and very properly so when it is remembered 
 that they symbolize the same fact. That the bands en¬ 
 circling the earth express the presence and protecting power 
 of the Holy Trinity over the world, is clearly implied by 
 the words and Rubric of the ancient coronation services, 
 where the archbishop on delivering the orb to the king, says, 
 “ Receive this imperial orb, and remember that the whole 
 world is subject to the power and empire of God.” It is to 
 be regretted that the modern orb, used at the coronations of 
 British sovereigns, has been so made as in some degree to 
 obscure the old symbolical meaning of the bands or rays ;* 
 they are indicated by rows of rich jewels, the horizontal 
 band being continued on both sides along its entire length, 
 fig. 53, while in most ancient examples, fig. 54, the vertical 
 and horizontal bands are connected, or run into each other, 
 without obstruction. 
 
 The royal and imperial crowns of Christian sovereigns are 
 almost invariably surmounted with a golden orb, thus banded 
 or rayed, and bearing a cross on its apex.f In the eleventh 
 century the orb borne in the hands of British sovereigns 
 was frequently surmounted by a dove, and sometimes the 
 
 Fig. 53. Orb used at the coronation of George IV., from Sir George 
 Naylor’s account"of the ceremony. 
 
 Fig. 54. Orb from the Great Seal of Henry VIII. 
 
 * This is, however, a trifling error in comparison with the mistake made 
 by the parties who prepared the regalia for the coronation of William and 
 Mary. A separate orb was made for and delivered to each, and this dupli¬ 
 cate world is, I believe, still preserved among the British Regalia. On their 
 Great Seal, however—as in that of Philip and Mary—the orb is placed 
 between them, and each rests a hand upon it. 
 
 f Forty-seven out of the forty-nine European Christian crowns are 
 thus decorated, the exceptions being Sicily, which has a large cross Botonee 
 without orb ; and Portugal, which is surmounted by a trefoil ornament, 
 Vide Wappen Almanach—der souverainen Regenten Europa’s. 
 
29 
 
 dove rested on a cross; symbols which sufficiently indicate 
 the religious idea to which the orb refers. 
 
 Durandus, Bishop of Mende, writing upon the symbolism 
 of churches and church ornaments in the thirteenth century, 
 gives two accounts of the crown or nimbus of the Saviour, 
 which in some degree contradict each other, but both of 
 which we quote. “The crown of Christ is represented 
 under the figure of a cross; and is thereby distinguished 
 from that of the saints : because by the Banner of His cross 
 He gained for Himself the glorification of His Humanity, 
 and for us freedom from our captivity, and the enjoyment of 
 everlasting life •/’* and again, “ Christ was triply crowned. 
 First, by His Mother, on the day of His conception, with 
 Crown of Pity; which was a double crown; on account 
 of what He had by nature, and what was given Him ; there¬ 
 fore also it is called a diadem, which is a double crown. 
 Secondly, by His Step-mother, in the day of His passion, 
 with the Crown of Misery. Thirdly, by His Father, in the 
 day of His Resurrection, with the Crown of Glory.” 
 Durandus is more remarkable for the amplitude than the 
 accuracy of his explanations of Church symbolism, and in 
 this case appears desirous to give a double explanation to 
 the same subject, without being very explicit in either. 
 
 The Greek letter T, called in the language of heraldry 
 the cross tau, but which is really no cross, since the lines 
 by which it is formed merely meet and join each other 
 without crossing, bears some analogy to the appearance of 
 the rays in the divine nimbus, and to those on the orb, 
 indeed, if we could suppose the tau to be used in an inverted 
 position, the coincidence in form would be exact. On some 
 examples of the orb the rays are placed exactly in the shape 
 of that letter, fig. 55. It is not improbable that it may 
 
 * Durandus on Symbolism. Edited by the Rev. J. M. Neale and the 
 Rev. Benjamin Webb, pp. 61 and 65. 
 
30 
 
 be directly referred to, or represented. Much mysterious 
 significance lias always been attributed to the letter 
 
 /pr tau, and it enters largely into the religious symbolism 
 Ki g . 55 . of the biblical antiquaries, which may probably have 
 arisen from the fact of its being formed of three limbs, 
 frequently, though not always, of equal length, and thus, 
 like the Delta, an appropriate symbol of the Holy Trinity. 
 
 The nimbi on the heads of archangels and angels are fre¬ 
 quently distinguished by a significant oi’nament, which is 
 never found except in those of the heavenly host. When it 
 is remembered that these glorious beings are the special 
 ministers and messengers of the Deity, and admitted into 
 His awful presence, we may expect to meet with some indi¬ 
 cation of their peculiar office, and a reflection from His glory. 
 In Greek examples, therefore, we meet with a Delta placed 
 on the forehead within the nimbus, fig. 56. The same very 
 obvious idea is expressed in other figures, by three circles 
 joined together, fig. 57, or by a tongue of flame in the same 
 situation, fig. 58. 
 
 Fig. 57. 
 
 Fig. 56. 
 
 Fig. 58. 
 
 Eig. 55 . Orb, in the hand of the Deity, from a Erench miniature. 
 Engraved hr Didron’s Christian Iconography, p. 42. 
 
 Fig. 56. Archangel, from a Greek picture. Engraved in Mrs. 
 Jameson’s “ Sacred and Legendary Art,” vol. i., p. 59. 
 
 Fig. 57. Archangel, from a painting by Cimabue, hi Mrs. Jameson’s 
 “ Sacred and Legendary Art,” vol. i., p. 52. 
 
 Fig. 58. Angel, from a picture by Lorenzo Monaco, in the Florence 
 Gallery. Engraved in Mrs. Jameson’s “ Sacred and Legendary Art,’ 
 vol. i., p. 86. 
 
31 
 
 Fig. 59. 
 
 Moses was admitted to the presence of God, and allowed, 
 while yet upon earth, to witness the mitigated glory of the 
 Almighty. Like the angels and archangels, he is dis¬ 
 tinguished by a particular nimbus, directly reflecting the 
 divine glory, expressed however, in the case of the prophet, 
 by two beams of light only. Figs. 59 and 60. His face, we 
 are told by scripture, shone with so bright a 
 light that he covered it with a veil when 
 conversing with the Jews. 
 
 We do not venture to offer any decided 
 opinion as to the reasons which induced 
 mediaeval artists to adopt this curious ar¬ 
 rangement, or to substitute for rays of 
 light the two horns so often met with on the 
 head of the Prophet. They could not represent 
 three rays without confounding the represen¬ 
 tations of Moses with those of the Deity. It 
 may be suggested that as the Almighty did not 
 reveal Himself to Moses in all His glory, and 
 delivered to him only that portion of the divine 
 law peculiar and applicable to the Jews, the 
 old artists may have refrained for these reasons 
 from expressing in the nimbus of the Prophet? 
 allusion to that Person of the Godhead whose 
 advent on earth, though foretold, was not at that time 
 accomplished. It is presumed that horns were represented 
 instead of beams of light, because (as we are informed) the 
 word employed in the original Hebrew admits of being 
 interpreted in either sense; or it may have been suggested to 
 them from the horns of the crescent moon, whose light is a 
 
 Fig. 59. Head of Moses, with two groups of rays, from an old Black 
 Letter Bible. 
 
 Fig. 60. Figure of Moses, with two beams or horns within the 
 nimbus, from painted glass of the 12th century, in Chartres Cathedral. 
 Engraved in Didron’s Christian Iconography, p. 117. 
 
32 
 
 reflection from that of the sun, as the glory of Moses was 
 derived from that of the Almighty. Most probably, however, 
 it was caused by the practical difficulty which the early 
 sculptors would meet with in any attempt to represent rays 
 of light on the head of a stone image, and that therefore 
 they availed themselves of the expedient permitted by the 
 literal interpretation of the Hebrew text. How magnificently 
 this was accomplished by Michael Angelo, in his majestic 
 and super-lmman statue of the great Prophet of the Israel¬ 
 ites, is well known to all lovers of art. 
 
 The Evangelists are always crowned with nimbi, whether 
 they are figured in their own persons, or symbolically repre¬ 
 sented as a man, an ox, and a lion with wings, for St. 
 Matthew, St. Luke, and St. Mark, or as an eagle for St. 
 John. There is no peculiarity to distinguish their nimbi 
 from those of other saints, and no indication of a cross or 
 of three rays is to he met with in ancient examples. It 
 might be expected that figures of St. Peter and St. Andrew 
 would have in their nimbi indications of the instruments 
 of their martyrdom, which were in each case crosses, but of 
 such peculiar forms as to distinguish them at all times from 
 pictures of the Saviour; as however, no such emblems ever 
 appear in their nimbi, it may be inferred that neither does 
 the ornamentation in the nimbi of our Lord refer to the 
 instrument of His passion. 
 
68 
 
The ornamental panels and the open tracery of windows 
 adopted by the ecclesiastical architects of the middle ages, 
 had almost invariably something besides mere beauty of 
 form to recommend them, they were often indeed so deeply 
 symbolical that we can now scarcely hope to discover the 
 subjects to which many of them refer. We venture to 
 suggest an explanation of two graceful panels which fre¬ 
 quently occur among ancient embellishments, and which are 
 often adopted by modern decorators, though, we presume to 
 think, without any just feeling of their true meaning and 
 significant origin. 
 
 The first, fig. 61, consists of three acute angles, and three 
 semi-circular arches; it occurs in ancient decoration and 
 church windows, as a frame-work for the sacred name, the 
 Cross, Agnus Dei, Dove, and similar subjects having direct 
 reference to the Deity. 
 
 The propriety of this arrangement will be at once under¬ 
 stood, when the lines forming the panel are united and 
 carried home, the figure then developes itself, fig. 62, into the 
 well-known Delta, the most frequently used of all emblems 
 of the Trinity, the three equal limbs, having each a circular 
 nimbus or glory. Thus understood, the outline becomes a 
 most fitting frame for the subjects already mentioned ; but it 
 is obviously inappropriate for emblems of inferior importance 
 as those of the Evangelists, still more so for armorial 
 bearings, crests, cyphers, and other heraldic ornaments, to all 
 which purposes it is abundantly applied in modern art. 
 There is a curious example of this ornament, arranged in 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 duplicate, among the carved oak panels, probably of the 
 time of Henry VII., in Smithills Hall, Lancashire, fig. 03, 
 it is on one of a series of panels, all representing religious 
 emblems, and occurs next to one bearing a beautiful and 
 elaborate carving of the monogram of Jesus, the form of 
 which is probably unique. Sometimes this nimbed Delta 
 contains a heraldic shield, which is, however, always charged 
 with some appropriate religious bearing, such as the cross, in 
 fig. 04; The symbolism of this example is heightened by 
 the trefoiled cusps in each semi-circle, or half-nimbus. In 
 some instances, and particularly in church windows, the 
 figure is inverted, one of the angles being placed at the top. 
 
 The second of these ornaments, though less important, is 
 still very interesting. It consists of four right angles, and 
 four semi-circular arches, fig. 05. When the lines are com¬ 
 pleted, as in the previous example, the figure becomes a 
 square, having on each side a circular nimbus, fig. GO. We 
 presume, that for this reason, it has been adopted by Chris¬ 
 tian artists as an appropriate frame for the symbolical 
 representations of the Evangelists, of which numerous 
 examples may be found in sepulchral brasses, where they 
 form the corners of the border containing the inscription. 
 
 It is also often used to enclose pictured or sculptured 
 representations of the Saviour, particularly when figured 
 under the symbol of a lamb, and was a frequent form for 
 the fonts of an early date, of which an example is given, 
 fig. 07, from a Latin MS. of the ninth century, in the Library 
 of Minerva, at Rome.* It still forms the outline of many 
 a noble pillar in the ancient churches of Christendom, fig. 08, 
 
 Fig. 67. Font. Engraved in Agincourt's History of Art, vol. iii., plate 
 39, from a Latin MS. of the ninth century, in the Library of Minerva, at Some. 
 
 * This form of Font admits of another very appropriate meaning, it 
 may have reference to the four rivers of Paradise. 
 
 Fig. 68. Pillar from the Church of St. Etienne, Nevers. Engraved 
 in the Glossary of Architecture, vol. ii., plate 105. 
 
35 
 
 and had, no doubt, in all these cases, the same significant 
 meaning. 
 
 The circles on the lines •were sometimes formed from a 
 point within the square, fig. 69, in which case they intersect 
 each other. In other instances, two-thirds of each circle 
 is represented outside of the square; such a framework was 
 adopted by Giotti, for some of his famous religious paintings, 
 particularly those representing St. Francis receiving the 
 stigmata, and his ascent to heaven in a fiery car, in which 
 other recognized emblems, peculiar to the Deity, as well as 
 a symbolical guard of the Evangelistic glory, are misapplied 
 to honor this popular saint of the Church of Rome. 
 
 This figure of a square with circles is, in ancient examples, 
 often placed diagonally, with an angle of the square up¬ 
 wards, by which arrangement the elegance of the device is 
 considerably enhanced. 
 
lira, 
 
 During tlie first six centuries of the Christian Church, her 
 peace was disturbed by nearly one hundred heresies, most 
 of them impugning, in one way or other, the doctrine of 
 the Holy Trinity. These doubtless led the way to the 
 rapid progress of the Moslem faith, of which a belief in 
 the “ Unity of God” was the very corner stone, and to the 
 success of the Arab arms, which from the seventh century 
 to the tenth, nearly swept Christianity from Africa and 
 Asia, threatening also its existence even in Europe. To 
 oppose the pernicious doctrines of Mahomet, the clergy and 
 laity of the Christian Church appear at this time to have 
 largely adopted emblems and symbols bearing marked refer¬ 
 ence to the Trinity. The cross was indeed the acknowledged 
 emblem of Christianity, but when it is remembered that the 
 Moslems held our Saviour in high reverence, as the greatest 
 of all inspired prophets before the time of Mahomet, that 
 they incorporated many of His benign precepts into their 
 Koran, and were well acquainted with the events of His 
 life, and the manner of His death ; it may be assumed that 
 the cross, the instrument of His martyrdom, would be a 
 symbol much less objectionable and obnoxious to them than 
 those other Christian emblems which, demonstrating the 
 orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity, struck directly at the 
 very foundation of the Moslem faith. It would be beside 
 the purpose of this essay even to enumerate the many 
 devices which the Christians adopted for this purpose. We 
 confine ourselves to a description of one very peculiar 
 custom through which the soldiers of the cross and the 
 
37 
 
 Holy Trinity demonstrated their own creed, and their 
 opposition to that of Mahomet. 
 
 The use of military banners bearing religious emblems 
 must have been of very eai’ly date, as frequent reference is 
 made to the custom in the pages of the Old Testament. 
 For their appearance we can only refer to representations on 
 Coins and Medals, their fragile material precluding the pre¬ 
 servation of any specimens of great age. On a Medallion of 
 the Emperor Constantine the Great, fig. 70, struck in the 
 
 fourth century, are repre¬ 
 sented the religious emblems 
 which gave to that epoch its 
 distinctive character. The 
 banner of the cross piercing 
 the body of the serpent, and 
 surmounted with the mono¬ 
 gram of Christ, together 
 with the motto “ Spes pub- 
 lica,” expressed the hope of 
 the civilized world from the 
 conversion of the Emperor to the Christian religion. On 
 the banner three circles (symbols of eternity and heaven) of 
 uniform size and appearance, may, it is presumed, (in the 
 absence of any other explanation) be intended as an illus¬ 
 tration of the Holy Trinity, though this is an interpretation 
 of the device which we should not have ventured to offer 
 were it not strengthened, if not confirmed, by farther evi¬ 
 dence to be afterwards adduced. It was probably in 
 emulation of, and in opposition to, this Christian banner, 
 the Laburum of the eastern empire, that the Arab followers 
 of Mahomed so early as the seventh century displayed the 
 black flag of their prophet, inscribed with the Mahomedan 
 confession of faith. “ There is but one God. Mahomed is 
 
 Fig. 70. Reverse of a Medallion of Constantine the Great. Engraved 
 in Agincourt’s History of Art, vol. ii., plate 48. 
 
38 
 
 the Apostle oi God.”" This practice, of mustering their 
 soldiers under religious banners, was followed by western 
 nations. Some of the Danish-Norwegian coins, minted in 
 
 England, in the tenth century, figs. 71 and 73, have upon 
 them the device of a triangular banner, enclosing a cross, 
 and bordered on one side—the only one on which they could 
 be displayed with certain tags or indefinitely marked orna¬ 
 ments, to which, without further help, it would be difficult to 
 attach any meaning; 
 we are, however, 
 assisted to this by 
 other flags of a 
 somewhat similar 
 character, to be 
 afterwards describ¬ 
 ed. A later example \^\v\ 
 
 of a triangular ban¬ 
 ner, with the cross 
 fig. 73, and another 
 Fig. 73. with the Holy Spi¬ 
 
 rit descending from heaven to earth, 
 fig. 74, confirm the religious symbolism 
 of, and coincide in form with, the early 
 Anglo-Banish examples. 
 
 The Bayeux Tapestry supplies curious Fi 74 _ 
 
 ■m 
 
 ■M 
 
 >3 
 
 * Ockley’s History of the Saracens, p. 241. 
 
 Fig. 71. Iicverse of a coin of Anlaf (or Olaf). Engraved in Worsaae’s 
 Danes in England, p. 53. This very curious coin is also engraved in Speed’s 
 History of England, p. 53. 
 
 Fig. 72. Coin of the Anglo-Danish King Cnut (or Canute), minted in 
 London. Engraved in Worsaae’s Danes in England, p. 53. 
 
 Fig. 73. Triangular banner, from a mural painting, formerly existing 
 in the Chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster. 
 
 Fig. 74. The Holy Ghost, as a Dove, on a Standard, descending from 
 the clouds. From a French Miniature of the fifteenth century. Engraved 
 in Didron’s Christian Iconography, p. 450. 
 
39 
 
 and valuable examples of tlie banners of the eleventh 
 century, to which we venture to call attention, believing 
 that they possess a religious and heraldic interest, not 
 hitherto attributed to them. One banner, fig. 75, is 
 
 repeatedly represented, and always in the hand of, or 
 near to, a figure supposed to be that of Duke William of 
 Normandy, it is presumed to be the flag said to have been 
 presented to him by Pope Alexander, before the invasion of 
 England, in testimony of his assent to William’s claim upon 
 the English throne. This banner is charged with a cross 
 within a border, and is terminated by being cut into four 
 flame-like points, very similar to the oriflamme, fig. 76, 
 represented in the stained glass of Chartres Cathedral ; and 
 
 Fig. 75. Banner in the hands of William, Duke of Normandy ; from 
 the Bayeux Tapestry. This illustration is traced from the drawing by 
 C. A. Stothard, engraved by Busine, and published by the Society of 
 Antiquaries. 
 
 Fig. 76. From the painted windows in Chartres Cathedral, representing 
 “ Henry, Lord of Mez, Mareschal of France, receiving the oriflamme from 
 the hands of St. Dennis.” Engraved and described in Montfaucon’s 
 Antiquities of France, vol. i., plate 88, p. 41. 
 
40 
 
 to another oriflamme, fig. 77, from a Mosaic of the eighth 
 century, represented as being presented by St. Peter to 
 Charles the Great. The former of these has five, the latter 
 three, flame-like points. The name oriflamme, we presume 
 to be derived from the golden ornaments embroidered on 
 the banner, or from its texture being cloth of gold, and 
 also from these flame-like terminations. Later illustrations 
 of this banner represent it as being square, and Dallaway, an 
 authority entitled to the highest respect, probably refers to 
 such late examples when he says, “ It was of a square form, 
 of a red or flaming colour, from whence it was called the 
 oriflamme.”* It probably underwent a mutation common 
 to the war banners of the period which will be afterwards 
 described, retaining, however, its original, though subse¬ 
 quently, less appropriate name. 
 
 All the banners represented in the Bayeux Tapestry, with 
 the exception of two, are figured with the same flame-like 
 ends, exactly resembling the fiery emanations pictured on 
 the tapestry, as proceeding from the flaming star, fig. 78, 
 recorded to have created great alarm in England, just before 
 the Norman invasion. The banners borne by the knights 
 are distinguished from that of their leader, by having a 
 nimbus of three points, corresponding with the arrangement 
 of the earliest oriflamme, fig. 77, and like it, probably 
 intended to testify to, and demonstrate, the doctrine of the 
 Holy Trinity. A similar arrangement of banners, also 
 for the most part with three terminations, was formerly 
 found in the stained glass of the Church of St. Dennis, 
 
 Fig. 77. From a Mosaic of the eighth century, representing 
 “ Charlemagne receiving from St. Peter an Oriflamme or Standard.” 
 Engraved and described in Montfaucon’s Antiquities of France,” vol. i., 
 plate 22, p. 12. 
 
 * Dallaway’s “ Enquiry into the origin and progress of the Science of 
 Heraldry in England,” p. 19. 
 
 Fig. 7S. Comet or flaming star, from the Bayeux Tapestry. 
 
41 
 
 figs. 79, 80, 81, 82, executed about 1140, during the 
 progress of the second crusade, by orders of Abbot Segur, 
 and representing the principal events of the first of these 
 religious wars. 
 
 It may be objected that the Bayeux Tapestry represented 
 events which were known to have occurred thirty years 
 antecedent to the first crusade, and therefore could have 
 no allusion to the circumstances of that war, it is, how¬ 
 ever, acknowledged by antiquaries of much skill and 
 learning, that the work was probably executed at the earliest 
 not less than fifty years after the occurrence of the events 
 which it illustrates, and consequently, during the time of the 
 greatest excitement in the prosecution of the crusades. 
 This would be sufficient reason to induce the artists of the 
 tapestry to invest the persons they represented,—all Chris¬ 
 tian knights and valiant warriors,—with the characteristic 
 attributes of the crusade, so popular at that time with every 
 class of persons in Christendom. 
 
 It has been already noticed that the nimbi proceeding 
 from the heads of Pagan deities usually resembled flames of 
 fire, while the rays emanating from the persons of the Holy 
 Trinity, more frequently assumed the appearance of light 3 
 but as the pennons of the Christian knights, the early 
 oriflamme banners, and that presented by the Pope to Wil¬ 
 liam, Duke of Normandy, have all flaming ends, they 
 present an apparent inconsistency, which, however, is easily 
 reconciled, when it is remembered that the banners were 
 intended to symbolize the divine anger against the enemies 
 of Christianity, and particularly against the Saracens, who 
 not only denied the divinity of Christ, but held the doctrine 
 of the Trinity in the utmost abhorrence, as an outrage on 
 the chief dogma of their own religion, the “ Unity of God 3 ” 
 
 Figs. 79, 80, 81, 82. Banners, from the stained glass, formerly in the 
 Church of St. Dennis. Engraved in Montfaucon’s Antiquities of France, 
 vol. i. 
 
42 
 
 tlie banners and pennons therefore appropriately represented 
 the consuming fire of God’s wrath sent against the unbe¬ 
 lievers. The flame-like terminations acquire an additional 
 significance when we examine the religious heraldry em¬ 
 broidered on the body of the banners. The oriflamme of 
 Charlemagne, fig. 77, has six rose-like ornaments, and the 
 oriflamme of St. Dennis, fig. 76, is entirely plain, to 
 neither of these can we attribute any religious character, 
 except from the fact that they are represented as being 
 delivered into the hands of living warriors by departed 
 saints: but an examination of the banners of the first 
 crusade, taken from the windows of the Church of St. 
 Dennis, figs. 79, 80, 81, and 8.2, will show that they are 
 each marked with one or with three crosses; the banner of 
 William, Duke of Normandy, fig. 75, and the pennons of 
 several of the knights in the Bayeux Tapestry, have very 
 distinctly marked crosses, figs. 83 to 87. Others are dis¬ 
 tinguished by three fesses, fig. 88; by three pales, figs. 89 
 and 90; and by three circles, 91, 92, 93, 94, corresponding 
 with each other in size, and so singularly resembling the 
 same objects on the banner of Constantine the Great, 
 
 Fig. 83. Banner, with cross, from the Bayeux Tapestry. 
 
 Fig. 84. Do. do. do. the cross formed 
 
 by four circles. 
 
 Fig. 85. Banner with cross, three pales, three points, and three loops 
 or rings, probably to pass the lance through. 
 
 Fig. 86. Banner surmounted by a cross on the mast head of'William’s 
 ship. 
 
 Fig. 87. Banner, with cross and three long ends. 
 
 Fig. 88. Banner, with three fesses, and three points. 
 
 Fig. 89. Banner, with three pales. 
 
 Fig. 90. Do. do. 
 
 Figs. 91, 92, 93, 94. Banners with three circles. 
 
 Figs. 95, 96. Banners with three points. 
 
 All the above arc copied from C. A. Stotliard’s drawing of the 
 Bayeux Tapestry, published by the Society of Antiquaries. 
 
43 
 
 (fig. 70, ante,) that we venture to suggest their intended 
 symbolism of the Holy Trinity. 
 
 Numerous examples of pennons, terminating in three 
 points, may be met with among the illuminated MSS. and 
 church decorations of the Anglo-Norman and early English 
 period, not only borne by warriors, but on the crossed staff 
 represented beside the Agnus Dei, or carried by our Lord, 
 particularly in early pictures of His resurrection or of His 
 descent into hell. 
 
 When Henry Y., with his peers and men-at-arms, under¬ 
 took the expedition against France, in which was fought the 
 famous battle of Agincourt, it is recorded by a poet of the 
 time that 
 
 “ The wynde was goode, and blew but softe, 
 
 And fourth they went hi the name of the trynyte.” 
 
 and we are further informed that the king “had for his 
 person five (?) banners, that is to say, the banner of the 
 Trinity, the banner of St. George, the 
 banner of St. Edward, and the ban¬ 
 ner of his own arms.”* The first of 
 these banners, is conjectured to have 
 been embroidered with a geometrical 
 demonstration of the doctrine of the 
 Holy Trinity, fig. 97, though most 
 probably the inscription upon it 
 would be in Latin. 
 
 Three circular ornaments, under 
 the various heraldic names of Orles, 
 Annulets, Roundels, Bezants, Plates, 
 Pomees, Hurts, Pellets, Golps, 
 Oranges, Guzes, Ogresses, Tort- 
 Fi £- 97 - eauxes, or Wastals, are borne by 
 
 upwards of sixty English families, and figured in Guillem, 
 
 * “ The History of the Battle of Agincourt,” by Sir Harris Nicolas, 
 p. 248, and appendix, 71. 
 
44 
 
 they vary from each other in position, metal, or tincture, 
 but are probably all derived from similar ornaments on the 
 banners of crusaders, or the still earlier symbols on that of 
 Constantine the Great. 
 
 It is well known that the religious heraldry, peculiar to the 
 time of the earlier crusades, was gradually merged into 
 heraldry of a personal character, and this appears to have 
 been effected chiefly by the addition of bearings allusive to 
 the Eastern war, without, however, displacing the crosses, 
 fesses, bars, or circles which distinguished such banners as 
 are figured on the Bayeux Tapestry. These religious bear¬ 
 ings are still retained on the arms of many English and 
 French families, whose ancestors are known to have partici¬ 
 pated in the honours of the earlier crusades, and are 
 exemplified by the shields of Wake, fig. A; Dawney, fig. B ; 
 and Amand, fig. C. 
 
 Fig B, 
 
 Fig. A. 
 
 Having ventured to claim for these rayed banners the 
 
 Fig. A. Baldwin de Wake was a crusader, buried at Market Deeping. 
 “ English. Crusaders,” by J. C. Dansey. The arms of Wake are “ Or, two 
 bars, Gu : in chief, three torteaux.” “ Burke’ General Armory.” 
 
 Fig. B. William Dawney, was at the siege of Acre. Yiseount Down 
 is the representative and direct descendant of this crusader. “English 
 Crusaders,” by J. C. Dansey. The arms of Viscount Down are “ Or, on 
 a bend cotised sa, three annulets of the field.” Burke’s Peerage. The 
 arms engraved are from Dansey s English Crusaders. 
 
45 
 
 character of religious nimbi, we next endeavour to show 
 in what manner, and for what reason, the use of the rays 
 
 was discontinued. Assuming that 
 they were adopted by Christian 
 knights, as a badge of their 
 engagement to undertake the 
 crusade, it may reasonably be 
 supposed that on their return, 
 after the accomplishment of their 
 vows, they would detach from 
 their banners the particular mark 
 r! s- c - of that obligation. The visible 
 
 demonstration of their creed, which they had elevated in 
 opposition to the banner of their Mahomedan enemies, be¬ 
 ing on their return to a Christian land, and when opposed 
 to Christian adversaries, no longer appropriate, was for 
 that reason removed. The probability of such a practice is 
 supported by a well known custom of chivalry which has 
 obtained in this country during many centuries. 
 
 When for any valiant exploit in war, a knight was ad¬ 
 vanced to the higher and more honourable rank of banneret, 
 the ceremony of his elevation was this. The king, on the 
 field of battle, caused to be cut from the knight’s pennon 
 or guidon its pointed or forked ends, thus making it into a 
 square banner. Now the heraldic guidon always had, and 
 retains to the present day, two peculiarities, which, besides 
 its greater length and forked terminations, distinguish it 
 from the square banner. It is not charged with armorial 
 bearings, but merely with the crest, badges, war cry, motto, 
 or other cognizances of the knight or his family; and a cross 
 (or in modern British examples, the union crosses) is always 
 
 Fig. C. Hugh de St. Armand, a Norman Knight, joined the first 
 crusade. “English Crusaders,” by J. C. Dansey. The name still bears 
 “ Or, fretty sable on a chief of the first, three bezants.” Burke’s General 
 Armory. 
 
46 
 
 placed next the staff. The assumption of the square 
 banner then with its personal heraldic distinctions, granted 
 at the time by the monarch, is quite consonant with 
 the presumed practice of the returned crusader, who cut 
 from his banner its symbol of hostility to the Saracens, now 
 no longer appropriate, and added to the religious emblems, 
 still embroidered upon the remaining square portion, such 
 other distinctive marks as may have been adopted by, or 
 conferred upon him. 
 
 Edward Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, was interred in 
 Westminster Abbey, having returned from the crusade of 
 1270. A tomb was erected over his body by his brother. 
 King Edward I., upon which was painted the figures of ten 
 knights who had accompanied him to the east and returned 
 with him to England. The tomb remains to this day, but 
 the figures are now defaced. They were however carefully 
 copied in the year 1783, with the colours restored from 
 vestiges then existing, by the accurate antiquarian artist, 
 John Carter, and published in his “ Specimens of Ancient 
 Sculpture and Painting in England,” with an interesting 
 description of the monument, from the pen of J. S. Hawkins, 
 Esq. Each knight holds his banner in his hand, and several 
 of these, figs. 97, 98, 99, have a curiously close resemblance 
 to banners carried by knights in the Bayeux Tapestry; 
 if we can suppose them to be deprived of their three rayed 
 terminations, in accordance with the custom suggested. 
 
 Another remarkable banner in the Bayeux Tapestry bears 
 a bird, within a segment of a circle, surrounded by a border 
 of gold colour, from which issues a nimbus or glory, formed 
 of nine flame-like tongues, fig. 100. This very peculiar banner 
 has been called the Danish Standard, or danbrog, and it is 
 
 Figs. 97, 98, 99. Banners of knights painted on the tomb of Edward 
 Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, in Westminster Abbey, from Carter’s 
 Specimens of Ancient Sculpture and Painting in England, p. 76. 
 
47 
 
 Fig. 100. 
 
 supposed that the bird is the Raven, sacred to Odin, the 
 principal god of the Scandinavian nations 
 before their conversion to Christianity. 
 The flaming glory surrounding the bird 
 does not at all militate against this idea, as 
 it was an attribute of idolatrous as well 
 as of Christian religion; very similar 
 banners, with rays of the same character, 
 were used by the Chinese, figs. 101, 102, apparently 
 bearing religious symbols, or representations of eastern 
 deities, under some of their numerous incarnations. We 
 claim however, for this banner, another name, and a very 
 different meaning. 
 
 The Danes had long before adopted Christian insignia on 
 their banners, as demonstrated by the coins of Anlaf and 
 Cnut, (figs. 71, 72, ante) it is therefore improbable that they 
 would display as a national banner, any emblem of their 
 former idolatry, particularly in the eminently Christian army 
 of Duke William,* still less that such banner would be 
 permitted to take precedence of that with the cross, pre¬ 
 sented to the Duke by the Pope himself, which on the 
 tapestry immediately follows that with the bird. 
 
 Speed,f who appears to have consulted the best available 
 authorities, informs us that William “ with three hundred 
 
 Fig. 100. From the Bayeux Tapestry. 
 
 Fig. 101. From a plate of the funeral procession of the King of 
 Tunquin. Engraved in Picart’s Religious Customs and Ceremonies, vol. 
 iv., p. 116. 
 
 Fig. 102. Ibid. vol. iii., p. 471. The figure in the flag is probably 
 Maxautar, the third incarnation of the Supreme Being ; vide “ Explication 
 of the Ten Incarnations, extracted from Father Kireher’s China Illus¬ 
 trated,” with a curious engraving, in which the Deity, in each incarnation, 
 wears a crown -with three points. 
 
 * The army of William, before the battle of Hastings, “passed the 
 whole night in confessing their sins, and received the sacrament in the 
 morning.” William of Malmsbury. 
 
 t Speed’s History of England, p. 406. 
 
48 
 
 ships, fraught full of his Normans, Flemings, Frenchmen, 
 and Britaignes, weighed anchor.” In this list there is no 
 mention of Danes or Norwegians, and we have reason to 
 believe that no soldiers of the Scandinavian nations were 
 present in the army of the conqueror, since we know that 
 the strength of these nations had just before invaded the 
 north of England, under the Danish King, Harold Halfager, 
 and Earl Tosti. Harold, King of England, defeated 
 them in a sanguinary and decisive battle, in which both 
 these leaders were slain, only four days before the Duke 
 of Normandy landed at Hastings. The probability then 
 
 is, that under such circumstances, neither Dane nor Danish 
 banner would take part in the southern invasion. 
 
 Mr. Worsaae, who adopts the opinion that the banner with 
 the bird, in the Bayeux Tapestry, was the danbrog, or war 
 flag, of the Scandinavian Vikings, states, that “ an old 
 chronicle (Emma’s Encomiast) relates, that in the time of 
 peace, no image whatever was seen in the flag (or mark) of 
 the Danes ; but in the time of war, there waved a raven in 
 
 it, from whose movements the Danes took auguries of victory 
 or defeat ■ if it fluttered its wings, Odin gave them a sign of 
 conquest, but if the wings hung slackly down, victory would 
 certainly desert them.”* The bird upon the tapestry, how¬ 
 ever, is represented with wings perfectly closed, and in an 
 attitude as completely peaceful, and dove like, as can well be 
 imagined. Mr. Worsaae, referring to the ancient national 
 war banners of the Danes, adds, “ what colours were used 
 can now hardly be decided, . . there can be no doubt 
 that the ground was often red, . . It is, perhaps 
 therefore most probable that the banners (or marks) of the 
 ancient Danes were, in times of peace, of a light colour, but 
 in war time, of a blood colour, with a black raven on a red 
 ground.”f This opinion, which is entitled to the highest 
 
 * Worsaae’s “The Danes in England,” p. 57. 
 
 f Worsaae’s “ The Danes in England,” p. 61. 
 
49 
 
 respect, is entirely against the supposition that the flag of 
 the tapestry represents the Raven of Denmark, as, after the 
 lapse of six hundred years, the bird is still found to be of a 
 pale blue colour, upon a field of what appears to have been 
 white, or some other very light tint. We venture to express 
 a belief that this very singular and interesting banner bears 
 a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, with a fiery nimbus 
 proceeding from it. 
 
 The curious tags which appear to be appended to one 
 side of the triangular banner, or the coins of Anlaf and Cnut, 
 and figs. 71, 72 ante, are probably intended to represent 
 rays, but they are too rudely figured to admit of this being 
 established with certainty. 
 
 Though in this paper we have claimed for the nimbus of 
 the Deity, as represented in Christian art, an origin and 
 signification different to those generally attributed to it, and 
 have extended the application of the nimbus to the banners 
 used in the early wars against the Saracens, an adaptation 
 of the ornament which we apprehend to have been hitherto 
 overlooked—we do not assume to have determined any of 
 these points. We present these notes to the notice of 
 antiquaries in the hope that they may induce inquiry into 
 the subject, by those who have better opportunity of inves¬ 
 tigating it, and more extended means of observation than 
 fall to the lot of the writer. 
 
 JOHN HEATON, PRINTED, BOLTON.