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the sensuous beauty of Heathen art. Forms beautiful and harm- 

 less in themselves were condemned because tliey were associated 

 with Heathen customs and worship, and were replaced by outlines 

 crude and unattractive, but embodying the principles of that faith 

 which conveyed to the hungry the assurance of the bread of life, 

 and to the thirsty that of living water. These early symbols are the 

 monogram of Christ : the Lily,the Cross, theSerpent, andthe Aureole 

 or Vesica-pisces. This Aureole enveloped the whole person, and 

 represented the acrostic symbol — the fish, from the Greek, 

 word being composed of letters which initial the following : 

 Jesus Christ, God, Son and Saviour. The fish was also commonly 

 used as the emblem ol baptism. The dove was used in various 

 ways ; it was the emblem of peace and reconciliation ; it also 

 symbolizes the freedom of the departed soul; but when the dove 

 bears the nimbus, it has a higher meaning, and symbolizes the 

 Holy Ghost. The Olive branch is also a symbol of peace, though 

 of well-known Pagan origin, being used in exactly the same sense 

 by Minerva in her celebrated contest with Neptune, to denote the 

 highest gift of the gods to man. The Palm branch denoted 

 victory, and is equally of Pagan as well as Biblical origin. A Ship 

 was sometimes used to signify the Church. When used in com- 

 bination with the Fish, it expresses Christ supporting His Church. 

 The Vine is also a frequent symbol of Christ's Church. But the 

 most important feature in early Christian Art is the Nimbus. It 

 was the glory encircling the head, combinations of which form the 

 well known Byzantyne and Gothic trefoil and quatrefoil, the former 

 denoting the Trinity, and the latter the four evangelists. So im- 

 portant is the Nimbus, that it is described as the key to the 

 Archaeology of Early Christian Art, and volumes have been written 

 on its details. 



But more immediate to my purpose it is to show how Art, 

 like History, repeats itself We find the mystic triangle of the 

 Egyptians, which forms the basis of the design of the pyramids, 

 reproduced as the symbol of the Christian Trinity. The Cross, so 

 common on Egyptian monuments, is now the glorious type of the 

 resurrection; and even the Tau, the Egyptian sign of life, is 



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