One shape, many traditions
Found wherever people sought harmony
GeometryThe first construction in Euclid’s Elements, around 300 BCE.
Early ChristianityThe ichthys fish, and the mandorla framing Christ in majesty.
Gothic cathedralsThe pointed arch, drawn from two meeting arcs.
Islamic artPatterns of light built from overlapping, compass-drawn circles.
Celtic knotworkThe triquetra, woven from three vesicae.
Buddhist artAlmond-shaped aureoles of light around the Buddha.
Its meanings differ from one tradition to the next. What returns, again and again, is the shape itself: two made one, without either being lost.