Aureola 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 Neolatin languages (as Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and French) the noun Aureola is usually more related to the disc of light surrounding the head of sacred figures and that in English is called Halo or Nimbus. In the earliest periods of Christian art it was confined to the figures of the persons of the Christian Godhead, but it was afterwards extended to the Virgin Mary and to several of the saints. The aureola, when
Aureole effect camera at arm's length, the aureole effect appearing in the picture will be seen radiating from the shadow of the camera, although the photographer would still see it around their head's shadow while taking the picture. This happens because the aureole effect always appears directly opposite the sun, centered at the antisolar point. The antisolar point itself is located within the shadow of the viewer, whatever this is: the eyes of the viewer or the camera's lens. As a matter of fact, when aureole effects are photographed from a plane, it is possible to tell where the photographer was seated.