Aureola

An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin aurea, "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure.

In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the disc of light surrounding the head of sacred figures, which in English is called halo or nimbus.

The aureola, when enveloping the whole body, generally appears oval or elliptical in form, but occasionally depicted as circular, vesica piscis, or quatrefoil.

The strict distinction between nimbus and aureole is not commonly maintained, and the latter term is most frequently used to denote the radiance round the heads of saints, angels or Persons of the Trinity.

A mandorla is a vesica piscis shaped aureola which surrounds the figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary in traditional Christian art.

In icons of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the mandorla is used to depict sacred moments which transcend time and space, such as the Resurrection, Transfiguration, and the Ascension.

In a famous romanesque fresco of Christ in Glory at Sant Climent de Taüll, the inscription "Ego Sum Lux Mundi" ("I Am the Light of the World") is incorporated in the Mandorla design.