The Rev. Dr. Anthony A. Hutchinson:
I am an Episcopal/Anglican priest retired from full-time ministry and also a retired US foreign service officer (1986-2011). I am Anglo-Catholic in faith and liturgical style, and am committed to a welcoming Church that embodies grace in its life and practice. I was ordained and first served as a priest in Hong Kong, and later in Beijing, and was rector at Trinity Episcopal Parish in Ashland Oregon 1/1/2012- 1/9/2022. In retirement I am working on The Ashland Bible, a translation of the entire Bible from Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic into modern inclusive vernacular English in cadences and register suitable for public reading.
Ascension (H Siddons Mowbray; Smithsonian American Art Museum; note elliptial glory behind Christ)
This web log is intended to share homilies, some liturgical materials I have prepared or adapted (prayers, litanies, etc.), and occasional journal entries.
"Elliptical" can mean "fragmentary, with words missing," or "in the shape of a flattened circle." While "glory" refers to the brilliance surrounding the Deity, it can also refer to the grace that reflects such radiance in life. In Christian iconography, a "glory" is the whole body halo around the Christ or the Blessed Virgin in paintings and statuary.
Our Lady of the Assumption (Taddeo Gaddi, 1350)
When pointed at the ends, a "glory" in this sense is also called a mandorla (from the Italian for "almond"), or a vesica piscis (a "fish's [air] bladder) .
Christ as Teacher, with angels of the Four Gospels (Cluny Coffret)
In geometry, an ellipse is a curve traced out by a point that is required to move so that the sum of its distances from two fixed points (called foci) remains constant. If the foci are identical with each other, the ellipse is a circle; if the two foci are distinct from each other, the ellipse looks like a flattened or elongated circle.
Elliptical Orbit
According to Kepler’s First Law of Planetary Motion, an object in orbit follows an ellipse, with the center of mass as one of the foci. The ellipse was called “imperfect” by theologians who originally objected to its use by Kepler to refine Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the solar system, as opposed to the “perfect” circles of Aristotelian geocentric cosmology. "Elliptical" can thus also imply the 'imperfect' path between two centers, or falling toward the true center, but moving forward fast enough to avoid collision, but slowly enough to prevent escape.
A vesica piscis is created by the overlapping of two circles and since before Christianity has been a general symbol for the intersection of the spiritual and phenomenal realms. It is oriented vertically in Christian iconography as a glory, representing the intersection of the divine and the human in the person of Jesus, the fruit of the Blessed Virgin's womb.
The Vesica Piscis in vertical orientation.
Main Chancel Window and high altar, St.John's Cathedral Hong Kong (Note Occulted Rayed Elliptical Glory Around Christ)
High Altar and reredos at Washington National Cathedral, with Christ in elliptical glory at center
Christ in Glory, with Angels of the Four Gospels (from codex Bruschsal)
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