Are all Catholic saints depicted with halos?

Question

Are all Catholic saints depicted with halos and if they are why?

Answer 1

no but all christians are said to be priest whe they are baptized.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

No, not all are. It depends on the artist I believe. But the purpose of a halo is to show holiness.  

Answer 4

quite a lot of them are, to show that they are saints in heaven.  That they are among the angels and have the light of Christ surrounding them.

Answer 5

Being a canonically declared saint simply means that the church on earth (the Church Militant) recognizes that these individuals are without a doubt (based upon miracles that they may have preformed) in Heaven.

The Church recognizing this puts halos on its saints to reflect the glory of God that radiates from them since to be in Heaven is simply to be in the Glory of God.

Regards,

Josemaria Rojas, OSB

Answer 6

Not all saints are depicted with halos. It all depended upon the artist and when the art was made. Today, in the plastic arts, halos are depicted due to tradition - few understand the phenomena. In reality the halo, in art, dates back to before the Bible and is found in many cultures and religions. Today, the halo can still be found in the modern form of art - photography. Often people are photographed with an accompanying orb.

It may interest some to know that the halo found in art is not a decoration or symbol but an actual, and scientifically accurate phenomena. The halo is the depiction of a spirit, colloquially called the Holy Spirit. Further information, with images can be found in the PDF document found below.

Answer 7

That began in artistic expression. The artist would paint the halo over the Saints head to distinguish him or her from others in the painting. It caught on and became an artistic tradition. It was never demanded or even expected by the Church.

Answer 8

Nimbus, in art and archaeology signifies a shining light implying great dignity. Closely related are the halo, glory, and aureole.

In the course of centuries the Christian idea that God, according to Holy Scripture the Source of Light and Divine things, must always be given a halo. became more pronounced. This applied to the three Divine Persons and their emblems, as the Cross, Lamb, Dove, Eye, and Hand; and since, according to Scripture, saints are children of Light (Luke 16:8; John 12:36), as such they should share the honour.

Answer 9

Not always.

It depends on the artist's conception of their saintly image.

Answer 10

No.

This depends on the artist and style of painting.

Catholic artists have been including halos or auras in their art since about 400 C.E.

An aura, nimbus, or halo (from the Greek meaning the disk around the sun or moon) is a ring of light that surrounds holy or sacred people.

The Church does not seem to have any official teaching on the subject but she does not deny or condemn them either.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11080b.h...

With love in Christ.