Early Christian Symbolism in Art
Early Christian symbolism in art has been created by saintly men and women who have looked at creation and have attached sacred meaning to it. They looked into a polished gemstone or diamond and saw more than the physical beauty of a natural gemstone, they saw the beauty of the soul and light of the soul. In the eleventh century, St. Simeon the New Theologian described what he saw, “In the way the light shines through the crystal …so he revealed himself to me as light”.
In the sixteenth century. St. Theresa of Avilla wrote of the difficulty she had of finding anything in nature that could compare with”… the great beauty of the soul… because the soul of a righteous person is nothing but, a paradise, a sacred delight” But the she went on to share a vision. “I began to look at the soul as a single diamond, in which there are many rooms, just as in heaven there are many mansions”.
These two examples illustrate a long tradition of early Christian symbolism in art through visualizing and understanding a polished diamond as a spiritual symbol. The Cross of light Diamond has been intentionally designed to “reflect” this tradition.
Diamonds and gemstones have only recently been acquainted with the notion of romance. Early Christian symbolism in art reveals that gemstones traditionally have served to express sacred truths. We here at Adamas seek to resurrect this notion of the spiritual symbolism that can be expressed through Christian jewelry design. We do this through attaching the traditional spiritaul meanings of gemstones and metals and designing Christian jewelry that speaks of ones spiritual connection to the Father and to one another.
The Cross of Light Diamond is the primary expression of Divine love because the greatest love one can give is to give their heart to someone. To sacrifice oneself is what the image of the Cross has traditonally shown. Therefore when viewing the three images within the Cross of Light Diamond, one can continually be reminded of this truth.
The idea of the rough diamond being formed into a polished diamond is an Early Christian symbol in art displaying the souls journey to purification and the final quest to reflect perfectly Gods Divine light.