Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 1.djvu/94

76 which was quite contrary to the notions of a later period. The following cut (fig. 6.), taken from a very early sarcophagus in the Vatican, represents God, without nimbus or beard, condemning Adam to till the earth and Eve to spin wool. At the period of the Renaissance, and subsequently, the real character and distinction of the nimbus was almost entirely neglected.

From the nimbus, M. Didron proceeds to the aureole, or the nimbus of the body. "The aureole," he observes, "is a nimbus enlarged, as the nimbus is an aureole diminished. The nimbus encircles the head; the aureole surrounds the whole body. The aureole is as it were a drapery, a mantle of