- Retable
A retable is a term of ecclesiastical art and ecclesiastical architecture, applied in modern English usage to an
altar -ledge or shelf, raised slightly above the back of the altar or communion table, on which are placed thecross , ceremonial candlesticks and other ornaments. Such retables may be lawfully used in theChurch of England .Foreign usage of the term, as in French, is different, and where the word is kept with this foreign application, the distinction should be observed. The
Middle Latin "retrotabulunz" (modernized "retabulum") was applied to an architectural feature set up at the back of an altar, and generally taking the form of a screen framing a picture, carved or sculptured work in wood or stone, ormosaic , or of a movable feature such as the famous "Pala d'Oro " inSt Mark's Basilica ,Venice , of gold, jewels and enamels. The foreign retable is, therefore, what should in English be called areredos , though that is not in modern usage a movable feature.ee also
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Reredos References
*1911
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