Nimbus In The Christian Era
. At the close of the sixteenth century, saints, the Virgin and the Apostles, as well as the angels, God the Father, and even Jesus Christ were depicted without the characteristic attribute. If the nimbus was still casually seen to illumine some statue or effigy, it was simply because the artist, struggling against fashion, attempted a return to ancient usages. In the first centuries of the Christian era, it had not yet sprung into existence. In the latter part of the fifteenth century, its existence had already terminated (Didron, 1851,