Show PROSAIC ORIGIN OF THE HALO said to have been placed over statue of saint to preserve them the origin of the halo dates back to the eleventh and twelfth centuries those years were rich in the building of churches and cathedrals there were erected around the outside of the sacred edifices statues of th saints placed under the eaves la time the caretakers of the building perceived that the discoloration from the rains falling from the roofs als figured the images accordingly they placed over the tops of them flat wooden disks of sufficient size to protect the statues giotto began to paint pictures when a boy and his ignorance assumed the projecting disks as an essential part of the saint his arl lest pictures represent each sacred figure topped off with what looks much like the bottom of a barrel he idealized this into a circle dark at first but growing more luminous with each successful production of his ancy until he developed the circle of light that has come down unchanged through generations of aint ers as a badge of sanctity |