nimbose

[Lat. nimbosus, from nimbus =a rain-cloud.] Cloudy, stormy, tempestuous. nim-bus, s. [Lat.=acloud.] 1. Art : A term applied, especially in sacred art, to a halo or glory surrounding the head in represen. tations of divine or sacred personages. The nimbus is of pagan origin, and was probably derived from the Romans, who ornamented the statues of their divinities and emperors with radiated crowns. The aureola, with which the nimbus is frequently con founded, envelops the whole body, while the nimbus is limited to the head. Nimbi are properly depicted in gold, but sometimes in stained windows they appear of various colors. The nimbus of God the Father is generally represented of a triangular shape, with rays diverging from it in all directions; that of Christ contains a cro , more or le enriched; that of the Virgin Mary a circlet of small stars; those of angels, a circle of small rays, surrounded by another circle of quatrefoils, like roses, interspersed with pearls. When the nimbus is depicted of a square form, it indicates that the person was living when Nimbus. IMG:content-0058.png:[ocr errors] delineated, and is affixed as a mark of honor and respect. As an attribute of power, the nimbus is often seen attached to the heads of evil spirits. In many illuminated books of the ninth and following centuries, Satan wears a crown. 2. Meteor.: A rain cloud; sometimes cla ed as if forming a primary or fundamental variety of cloud; it is really a mixture of the stratus, the cumulus, and the cirrus. It has a uniform gray tint and fringed edges.