21 . Differences in meaning of both artistic devices had been clear enough until the moment, when Hesyshasm raised. The Hesyshastic mainstream has faded semantic distinctions between the nimbus as a symbol of the holiness and mandorla as a “meeting-point” of the material and the outer space 22 , and in late Palaiologan art mandorla became a visual sign of the uncreated Thaboric light, equal in meaning with the hallo . According to another conception the mandorla descents from the repre- sentations of the rising Sun 23 or from the images of Victory supporting a shield upon the Roman sarcophagi, which had been so popular in antique art. 24 (Fig. 1) Antecedent of this depiction can be seen in the multiplication of Victories in the balustrade of the temple of Nike at Athens and in general outlines the transition from “the imago clipeata of a deceased person, to the angel... who raises the imago clipeata of a deceased and risen Christ was easy and natural, especially since the type of the angel in Christian art developed out of the pagan Victory appearing first in the fourth century...”. 25 This theory could be able to explain some of the cases when the round mandorla was used in Early Christian art, nevertheless it not appreciate properly the fact, that the medallion and the man- dorla have different meaning in Christian art. What is more, it is indisputable that the prevailing form of the early Christian mandorla is the oval one. Another assumption exists, that the mandorla has been made as a step for- ward more abstract illustration of God’s Dynamics instead of the earlier manner for depicting them through the clouds and God’s hand.