The Fascinating Iconography of Vesica Piscis
How the sacred symbol evolved from Christianity to modern architecture
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Vesica piscis is considered to be a sacred symbol that is made of the intersection of two circles of the same radius and the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. The exact origin of the symbol is unknown but the symbol prominently originated from Pythagorean history traversed to Christian iconography and evolved in several modern architectures.
This sacred symbol portrays the divine feminity, female fertility, and birth of life. But, in Christianity, the feminity notion is subdued and it mainly reflects the glory of God.
The etymology and origin of vesica piscis
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The vesica piscis is a Latin word and when literally translated it means the “Vessel of the Fish”. It is derived by taking two circles of equal diameters and overlaying them in such a way that their circumferences touch each other’s epicenters.
The intersectional area is also called “mandorla” which is an Italian word for little almond and looks like the shape of an almond.
