Velificatio Velificatio Velificatio is a stylistic device used in ancient Roman art to frame a deity by means of a billowing garment. It represents "vigorous movement," an epiphany, or "the vault of heaven," often appearing with celestial, weather, or sea deities. It is characteristic of the iconography of the Aurae, the Breezes personified, and one of the elements which distinguish representations of Luna, the Roman goddess of the Moon, alluding to her astral course. A figure so framed is a velificans (plural velificantes). Not all deities are portrayed as "velificantes", but the device might be used to mark a member of
Dynamics of the celestial spheres associating an angel with each of the spheres. Moreover, Aquinas rejected the idea that celestial bodies are moved by an internal nature, similar to the heaviness and lightness that moves terrestrial bodies. Attributing souls to the spheres was theologically controversial, as that could make them animals. After the Condemnations of 1277, most philosophers came to reject the idea that the celestial spheres had souls. Robert Kilwardby (c. 1215–1279) discussed three alternative explanations of the motions of the celestial spheres, rejecting the views that celestial bodies are animated and are moved by their own spirits or souls, or that the celestial