(03-05-2026, 06:16 PM)R. Sale wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.It starts with the golden rays. This is Milan, 1385-1390.
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It's a sort of solar version of the cosmic boundary representation based on fire and light instead of clouds or blue pools.
Early depictions of the sun frequently use indented and/or dancetty patterns which are somewhat associated with fire. The golden rays seem to be a better depiction of light.
As far as I understand, the golden rays are like "splendor, brilliance", in the sense that they can be like actual light but in a dazzling way, or to highlight the importance of a person or thing. Kind of like a halo (it's also a form halos can take in art). The fact that these rays aren't uniform but have peaks and valleys might be Tuscan innovation, but it's too early to call. Your example points out clearly that this form predates the 15th century (though I guess a sun would be a clearer example).
Choosing a head instead of a traditional simple face for the sun might be the more radical shift, since it moves the heavenly body back towards full personification, and thus perhaps Godhood in the Greco-Roman sense. A Renaissance thing?