Ecclesiastical ring gold, stone-set ring. Roman Catholic bishops traditionally have their episcopal ring set with an amethyst. Aside from the rings a bishop purchases or is given by others, his rings belong to the Church; he will have inherited the previous bishop's ring collection, which is held in trust. While all hierarchs are accorded the honor of being buried wearing a ring, all rings belonging to the Church will be returned to the Church upon the retirement or death of any hierarch. In a Decree of Pope Boniface IV (A.D. 610) it describes monks raised to the episcopal dignity as "anulo pontificali
L. A. Ring "Nu skrider Dagen under, og Natten vælder ud", which represent the culmination of Ring's preoccupation with death as a motif in painting. In Ring's art the road and the path are recurring themes, and other lines such as creeks, rivers and estuaries, the open sea and modern elements e.g. bridges, railway tracks and telephone cables are used as main motifs. The roads lead the eye into the paintings and out again, as a symbol of the human existence. Ring often uses doors and windows as thresholds. In some of the threshold paintings the person depicted is in a hesitant position