History of the Christian Altar

The Christian altar consists of an elevated surface, tabular in
form, on which the sacrifice of the Mass is offered. The earliest
Scripture reference to the altar is in St. Paul (I Cor. x, 21);
the Apostle contrasts the "table of the Lord" (trapeza Kyriou) on
which the Eucharist is offered, with the "table of devils", or
pagan altars. Trapeza continued to be the favourite term for altar
among the Greek Fathers and in Greek liturgies, either used alone
or with the addition of such reverential qualifying terms as iera,
mystike, The Epistle to the Hebrews (xiii, 10) refers to the
Christian altar as thysiasterion, the word by which the Septuagint
alludes to Noah's altar. This term occurs in several of the
Epistles of St. Ignatius (Ad Eph. v; Magnes. iv, 7; Philad. 4), as
well as in the writings of a number of fourth and fifth century
Fathers and historians; Eusebius employs it to describe the altar
of the great church at Tyre (Hist. Eccl., X, iv, 44). Trapeza,
however, was the term most frequently in use. The word bomos to
designate an altar. was carefully avoided by the Christians of the
first age, because of its pagan associations; it is first used by
Synesius, Bishop of Cyrene, a writer of the early fifth century.
The terms altare, mensa, ara, altarium, with or without a genitive
addition (as mensa Domini), are employed by the Latin fathers to
designate an altar. Ara, however, is more commonly applied to
pagan altars, though Tertullian speaks of the Christian altar as
ara Dei. But St. Cyprian makes a sharp distinction between ara and
altare, pagan altars being aras diaboli, while the Christian altar
is altare Dei [quasi post aras diaboli accedere ad altare Dei fas
sit (Ep. Ixv, ed. Hartel, II, 722; P. L., Ep. lxiv, IV, 389)].
Altare was the word most commonly used for altar, and was
equivalent to the Greek trapeza.

                           I. MATERIAL AND FORM

The earliest Christian altars were of wood, and identical in form
with the ordinary house tables. The tables represented in the
Eucharistic frescoes of the catacombs enable us to obtain an idea
of their appearance. The most ancient, as well as the most
remarkable, of these frescoes, that of the Fractio Panis found in
the Capella Greca, which dates from the first decades of the
second century, shows seven persons seated on a semi-circular
divan before a table of the same form. Tabular-shaped altars of
wood continued in use till well on in the Middle Ages. St.
Athanasius speaks of a wooden altar which was burned by the Count
Heraclius (Athan. ad Mon., lvi), and St. Augustine relates that
the Donatists tore apart a wooden altar under which the orthodox
Bishop Maximianus had taken refuge (Ep. clxxxv, ch. vii, P. L.,
XXXIII, 805). The first legislation against such altars dates from
the year 517, when the Council of Epaon, in Gaul, forbade the
consecration of any but stone Altars (Mansi, Coll. Conc., VIII,
562). But this prohibition concerned only a small part of the
Christian world, and for several centuries afterwards altars of
wood were used, until the growing preference for altars of more
durable material finally supplanted them. The two table altars
preserved in the churches of St. John Lateran and St. Pudentiana
are the only ancient altars of wood that have been preserved.
According to a local tradition, St. Peter offered the Holy
Sacrifice on each, but the evidence for this is not convincing The
earliest stone altars were the tombs of the martyrs interred in
the Roman Catacombs. The practice of celebrating Mass on the tombs
of martyrs can be traced with a large degree of probability to the
first quarter of the second century. The Fractio Panis fresco of
the Capella Greca, which belongs to this period is located in the
apse directly above a small cavity which Wilpert supposes (Fractio
Panis, 18) to have contained the relics of a martyr, and it is
highly probable that the stone covering this tomb served as an
altar. But the celebration of the Eucharist on the tombs of
martyrs in the Catacombs was, even in the first age, the exception
rather than the rule. (See ARCOSOLIUM) The regular Sunday services
were held in the private houses which were the churches of the
period. Nevertheless. the idea of the stone altar, the use of
which afterwards became universal in the West, is evidently
derived from the custom of celebrating the anniversaries and other
feasts in honour of those who died for the Faith. Probably, the
custom itself was suggested by the message in the Apocalypse (vi,
9) "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for
the word of God." With the age of peace, and especially under the
pontificate of Pope Damasus (366-384), basilicas and chapels were
erected in Rome and elsewhere in honour of the most famous
martyrs, and the altars, when at all possible, were located
directly above their tombs. The "Liber Pontificalis" attributes to
Pope Felix I (269-274) a decree to the effect that Mass should be
celebrated on the tombs of the martyrs (constituit supra memorias
martyrum missas celebrare, "Lib. Pont.", ed. Duchesne, I, 158).
However this may be, it is clear from the testimony of this
authority that the custom alluded to was regarded at the beginning
of the sixth century as very ancient (op. cit., loc. cit., note
2). For the fourth century we have abundant testimony, literary
and monumental. The altars of the basilicas of St. Peter and St.
Paul, erected by Constantine, were directly above the Apostles'
tombs. Speaking of St. Hippolytus, the poet Prudentius refers to
the altar above his tomb as follows:

    Talibus Hippolyei corpus mandatur opertis
     Propter ubi apposita est ara dicata Deo.

Finally, the translation of the bodies of the martyrs Sts.
Gervasius and Protasius by St. Ambrose to the Ambrosian basilica
in Milan is an evidence that the practice of offering the Holy
Sacrifice on the tombs of martyrs was long established. The great
veneration in which the martyrs were held from the fourth century
had considerable influence in effecting two changes of importance
with regard to altars. The stone slab enclosing the martyr's grave
suggested the stone altar, and the presence of the martyr's relics
beneath the altar was responsible for the tomblike under-structure
known as the confessio. The use of stone altars in the East in the
fourth century is attested by St. Gregory of Nyssa (P. G., XLVI,
581) and St. John Chrysostom (Hom. in I Cor., xx); and in the
West, from the sixth century, the sentiment in favour of their
exclusive use is indicated by the Decree of the Council of Epaon
alluded to above. Yet even in the West wooden altars existed as
late as the reign of Charlemagne, as we infer from a capitulary of
this emperor forbidding the celebration of Mass except on stone
tables consecrated by the bishop [in mensis lapideis ab episcopis
consecratis (P. L., XCVII, 124)]. From the ninth century, however,
few traces of the use of wooden altars are found in the domain of
Latin Christianity, but the Greek Church, up to the present time,
permits the employment of wood, stone, or metal.

                            II. THE CONFESSIO

Martyrs were Confessors of the Faith -- Christians who "confessed"
Christ before men at the cost of their lives -- hence the name
confessio was applied to their last resting-place, when, as
happened frequently from the fourth century, an altar was erected
over it. Up to the serenth century in Rome, as we learn from a
letter of St. Gregory the Great to the Empress Constantia, a
strong sentiment against disturbing the bodies of the martyrs
prevailed. This fact accounts for the erection of the early Roman
basilicas, no matter what the obstacles encountered, over the
tombs of martyrs; the church was brought to the martyr, not the
martyr to the church. The altar in such cases was placed above the
tomb with which it was brought into the closest relation possible.
In St. Peter's, for instance, where the body of the Apostle was
interred at a considerable depth below the level of the floor of
the basilica, a vertical shaft, similar to the luminaria in some
of the catacombs, was constructed between the Altar and the
sepulchre. Across this shaft, at some distance from each other,
were two perforated plates, called cataractae, on which cloths
(brandea) were placed for a time, and afterwards highly treasured
as relics. But the remains of St. Peter, and those of St. Paul,
were never disturbed. The tombs of both Aposties were enclosed by
Constantine in cubical cases, each adorned with a gold cross (Lib.
Pont., ed. Duchesne, I, 176). From that date to the present time,
except in 1594, when Pope Clement VIII with Bellarmine and some
other cardinals saw the cross of Constantine on the tomb of St.
Peter, the interior of their tombs has been hidden from view.
Another form of confessio was that in which the slab enclosing the
martyr's tomb was on a level with the floor of the sanctuary
(presbyterium). As the sanctuary was elevated above the floor of
the basilica the altar could thus be placed immediately above the
tomb, while the people in the body of the church could approach
the confessio and through a grating (fenestella confessionis)
obtain a view of the relics. One of the best examples of this form
of confessio is seen at Rome in the Church of San Giorgio in
Velabro, where the ancient model is followed closely A modified
form of the latter (fifth-century) state of confessio is that in
the basilica of San Alessandro on the Via Nomentana, about seven
miles from Rome. In this case the sanctuary floor was not elevated
above the floor of the Basilica, and therefore the fenestella
occupied the space between the floor and the table of the altar,
thus forming a combination tomb and table altar. In the fenestella
of this altar there is a square opening through which brandea
could be placed on the tomb.

                            III. THE CIBORIUM

From the fourth century altars were, in many instances, covered by
a canopy supported on four columns, which not only formed a
protection against possible accidents, but in a greater degree
served as an architectural feature of importance. This canopy was
known as the ciborium or tegurium. The idea of it may have been
suggested by memoriae such as those which from the earliest times
protected the graves of St. Peter and St. Paul; when the basilicas
of these Apostles were erected, and their tombs became altars, the
appropriateness of protecting- structures over the tomb-altars,
bearing a certain resemblance to those which already existed,
would naturally suggest itself. However this may be, the dignified
and beautifully ornamented ciborium as the central point of the
basilica, where all religious functions were performed, was an
artistic necessity. The altar of the basilica was simple in the
extreme, and, consequently, in itself too small and insignificant
to form a centre which would be in keeping with the remainder of
the sacred edifice. The ciborium admirably met this requirement.
The altars of the basilicas erected by Constantine at Rome were
surmounted by ciboria, one of which, in the Lateran, was known as
a fastigium and is described with some detail in the "Liber
Pontificalis". The roof was of silver and weighed 2,025 pounds;
the columns were probably of marble or of porphyry, like those of
St. Peter's. On the front of the ciborium was a scene which about
this time became a favourite subject with Christian artists:
Christ enthroned in the midst of the Apostles. All the figures
were five feet in height; the statue of Our Lord weighed 120
pounds, and those of the Apostles ninety pounds each. On the
opposite side, facing the apse, Our Lord was again represented
enthroned, but surrounded by four Angels with spears; a good idea
of the appearance of the Angels may be had from a mosaic of the
same subject in the church of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, at Ravenna.
The interior of the Lateran Ciborium was covered with gold, and
from the centre hung a chandelier (farus) "of purest gold, with
fifty dolphins of purest gold weighing fifty pounds, with chains
weighing twenty-five pounds". Suspended from the arches of the
ciborium, or in close proximity to the altar, were "four crowns of
purest gold, with twenty dolphins, each fifteen pounds, and before
the altar was a chandelier of gold, with eighty dolphins, in which
pure nard was burned". Seven other altars were erected in the
basilica, probably to receive the oblations; Duchesne notes the
coincidence of the number of subsidiary altars with the number of
deacons in the Roman Church (Liber Pont., I, 172, and note 33,
191). This splendid canopy was carried away by Alaric in 410, but
a new ciborium was erected by the Emperor Valentinian III at the
request of Pope Sixtus III (432-440). Only fragments of a few of
the more ancient ciboria have been preserved to our time, but the
ciborium of Sant' Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna (ninth century),
reproduces their principal features.

                               IV. CHANCEL

In his description of the Basilica of Tyre the historian Eusebius
says (Hist. Eccl., X, iv) that the altar was enclosed "with wooden
lattice-work, accurately wrought with artistic carving", so that
it might be rendered "inaccessible to the multitude". The
partition thus described, which separated the prebyterium and
choir from the nave, was the cancellus or chancel. In a later age
the name "chancel" came to be applied to the presbyterium itself.
Portions of a number of ancient chancels have been found in Roman
churches, and from reconstructions made with their help by
archaeologists a good idea of the early chancel may be obtained.
Two of these restored chancels, made from fragments found in the
oratories of Equizio and in the Church of San Lorenzo, show the
style of workmanship, which consisted of geometrical designs.
Chancels were made of wood, stone, or metal.

                            V. THE ICONOSTASIS

Constantine the Great, according to the "Liber Pontificalis",
erected in St Peter's, in front of the presbyterium, six marble
columns adorned with vine-traceries. Whether these columns were
originally conacted by an architrave is uncertain, but in the time
of Pope Sergius III (687-701) this feature existed. They seem to
have served for no special object, and therefore were probably
intended to add dignity to the presbyterium. In the Church of the
Resurrection at Jerusalem, also erected by Constantine, there were
twelve similar columns, corresponding with the number of the
Apostles. The iconostasis of the Greek Church and the rood-screen
of Gothic churches are evidently traceable to this ornamental
feature of the two fourth-century basilicas. The iconostasis, like
the chancel in the Latin Church, separated the presbyterium from
the nave. Its original form was that of an open screen, but from
the eighth century, owing to the reaction against iconoclasm, it
began to assume its present form of a closed screen decorated with
paintings. A colonnade of six columns (seventh century) in the
Cathedral of Torcello gives an idea of the colonnades in the
Constantinian basilicas referred to.

                         VI. THE DOVE; TABERNACLE

During the first age of Christianity the faithful were allowed,
when persecution was imminent, to reserve the Eucharist in their
homes. (See ARCA.) This custom gradually disappeared in the West
about the fourth century. The Sacred Hosts for the sick were then
kept in churches where special receptacles were prepared for them.
These receptacles mere either in the form of a dove which hung
from the roof of the ciborium, or, where a ciborium did not exist,
of a tower (the turris Eucharistica) which was placed in an
armarium. In a drawing of the thirteenth-century altar of the
Cathedral of Arras an arrangement is seen which is evidently a
reminiscence of the suspended dove in those countries where the
ciborium had disappeared: the Eucharistic tower is suspended above
the altar from a staff in the form of a crosier. The more ordinary
receptacle for this purpose, up to the seventeenth century, was
the armarium near, or an octagon-shaped tower placed on the Gospel
side of, the altar. Tabernacles of the latter kind were generally
of stone or wood; those of the dove class of some precious metal.
Our present form of tabernacle dates from the end of the sixteenth
century.

                            VII. CONSECRATION

No special formula for the consecration of altars was in use in
the Roman Church before the eighth century. In substance, however,
what we understand by consecration was practiced in the fourth
century. This original form of consecration consisted in the
solemn transfer of the relics of a martyr to the altar of a newly
erected church The translation of the bodies of Sts. Gervasius and
Protasius, made by St. Ambrose, is the first recorded example of
the kind. (See AMBROSIAN BASILICA.) But such translations of the
mortal remains of martyrs were at this time, and long afterwards,
of rare occurrence. Relics, however, by which we must understand
objects from a martyr's tomb (the brandea mentioned above), were
regarded with only a less degree of respect than the bodies of the
martyrs themselves, and served as it were to multiply the body of
the saint. This reverence for objects associated with a martyr
gave rise to the custom of entombing such relics beneath the
altars of newly erected churches, until it ultimately became the
rule not to dedicate a church without them. An early example of
this practice was the dedication of the basilica Romana by St.
Ambrose with pignora of St. Peter and St. Paul brought from Rome
(Vita Ambros., by Paulinus, c. xxxiii). St. Gregory of Tours (Lib.
II, de Mirac., I, P. L., LXXI, 828) mentions the dedication of the
Church of St. Julian in his episcopal city with relics of that
saint and of another. When relics of the saints could not be
procured, consecrated Hosts and fragments of the Gospels were
sometimes used; concerning the use of the former for this purpose
the English Synod of Calchut (Celicyth, Chelsea, 816) made a
regulation (can. 22). Up to the middle of the sixth century in the
Roman Church the solemn celebration of Mass was the only form of
dedication. If, however, it had been decided to place in the altar
the relics of a martyr, this ceremony preceded the first solemn
function in the new edifice. Duchesne points out (op. cit., 406)
that the liturgical prayers of the Gelasian Sacramentary recited
for the consecration of altars bear the unmistakable stamp of the
funeral liturgy, this fact is evidently attributable to the Custom
of entombing relics, regarded as representing the bodies of the
saints, at the time of dedication. The translation of relics was a
second solemn interment of the saint's body, and hence the
liturgical prayers composed for such occasions appropriately bore
the characteristics of the burial service. The principal features
of the earliest form of consecration in the Roman Church, as given
in the Gelasian Sacramentary, are as follows: The bishop with his
clergy, chanting the litany, first proceeded in solemn procession
to the place where the relics were kept. A prayer was then chanted
and the relics were borne by the bishop to the door of the church
and there placed in the custody of a priest. The bishop then
entered the church, accompanied by his immediate attendants, and
after exorcising the water and mixing with it a few drops of
chrism, he prepared the mortar for enclosing the sepulchre. With a
sponge he then washed the table of the altar, and returning to the
door he sprinkled the people with what remained of the holy water.
After this he took the relics and re- entered the church, followed
by the clergy and people chanting another litany. The sepulchre
was then anointed with chrism, the relics were placed therein, and
the tomb sealed. The ceremony concluded with the solemn
celebration of Mass. The Gallican liturgy of consecration, unlike
that of Rome, partook of the character of the liturgy for the
administration of baptism and confirmation rather than that of the
funeral liturgy. "Just as the Christian is dedicated by water and
oil, by baptism and confirmation, so the altar first, then the
church, is consecrated by ablution and unction" (Duchesne, op.
cit., 407-409). In the eighth and ninth centuries attempts were
made by Frankish liturgists to combine the two liturgies of Rome
and Gaul, from the result then achieved has developed the actual
consecration ritual of the Western Church. In the Greek Church the
dedication of the altar was a ceremony distinct from that of the
deposition of relics, the two functions were ordinarily performed
on different days. On the first day the table of the altar was
placed on its support of columns by the bishop in person. After
this he proceeded to the consecration which consisted of washing
the table, first with baptismal water, then with wine. The altar
was next anointed with chrism and incensed. The following day the
relics were placed in the sepulchre with the greatest solemnity.
Duchesne calls attention to the close resemblance between the
Gallican and the Byzantine liturgy for the consecration of altars
(op. cit., 416).

                            VIII. ORIENTATION

The custom of praying with faces turned towards the East is
probably as old as Christianity. The earliest allusion to it in
Christian literature is in the second book of the Apostolic
Constitutions (200-250, probably) which prescribes that a church
should be oblong "with its head to the East". Tertullian also
speaks of churches as erected in "high and open places, and facing
the light (Adv. Valent., iii). The reason for this practice, which
did not originate with Christianity, was given by St. Gregory of
Nyssa (De Orat. Dominic., P. G., XLIV, 1183), is that the Orient
is the first home of the human race, the seat of the earthly
paradise. In the Middle Ages additional reasons for orientation
were given, namely, that Our Lord from the Cross looked towards
the West, and from the East He shall come for the Last Judgment
(Durand, Rationale, V, 2; St. Thomas, Summa Theologica II-
II:84:3). The existence of the custom among pagans is referred to
by Clement of Alexandria, who states that their "most ancient
temples looked towards the West, that people might be taught to
turn to the East when facing the images" (Stromata, vii. 17, 43).
The form of orientation which in the Middle Ages was generally
adopted consisted in placing the apse and altar in the Eastern end
of the basilica. A system of orientation exactly the opposite of
this was adopted in the basilicas of the age of Constantine. The
Lateran, St. Peter's, St. Paul's, and San Lorenzo in Rome, as well
as the Basilicas of Tyre and Antioch and the Church of the
Resurrection at Jerusalem, had their apses facing the West. Thus,
in these cases the bishop from his throne in the apse looked
towards the East. At Rome the second Basilica of St. Paul, erected
in 389, and the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli, erected
probably in the latter half of the fourth century reversed this
order and complied with the rule. The Eastern apse is the rule
also in the churches of Ravenna, and generally throughout the
East. Whether this form of orientation exercised any influence on
the change of the celebrant from the back to the front of the
altar cannot well be determined but at all events this custom
gradually supplanted the older one, and it became the rule for
both priest and people to look in the same direction, namely,
towards the East (Mabillon, Museum Italicum, ii, 9). Strict
adherence to either form of orientation was, necessarily, in many
instances impossible, the direction of streets in cities naturally
governed the position of churches. Some of the most ancient
churches of Rome were directed towards various points of the
compass.

                     IX. ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL ALTARS

Few ancient altars have survived the ravages of time. Probably the
oldest of these is the fifth- century altar discovered at Auriol,
near Marseilles. The stone table, on the front of which the
monogram of Christ, with twelve doves, is engraved, rests on a
single column. Similar in construction to this are three altars in
the confessio of the Church of St. Caecilia in Rome, which are
attributed to the ninth century. In two sixth-century mosaics of
San Vitale and Sant' Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna, two table
altars of wood, resting on four feet, are represented. They are
covered by a long cloth which completely hides the tables. Enlart
regards it as probable that the tables enclosed in the altars of
the Lateran and Santa Pudenziana are similar in appearance (Manuel
d'arch�ol. Fran�aise, I, Archit. Relig., note 1). Altars of the
tomb type, like the sarcophagi of the Constantinian epoch, offered
a surface the front of which was well adapted to sculptured
decoration. The earliest existing example of an altar with a
carved antependium, however, in the Church of Cividale, dates from
the beginning of the eighth century. Our Lord is here represented
in the centre of the antependium, accompanied by angels, while the
hand of the Father appears above His head. Of greater interest is
the antependium, as well as the side panels, of the altar of the
Ambrosian basilica in Milan. The front, over seven feet in length,
is of gold, the back and sides of silver. Both front and back are
paneled into three compartments, in which reliefs from the life of
Christ and St. Ambrose are represented. The subjects of the
central panel of the front are a Greek cross, in the centre of
which Our Lord is represented; in the arms of the cross are the
symbols of the four Evangelists, while the remaining spaces
contain representations of the Apostles; Crosses are represented
on the ends also, with angels in various attitudes. The famous
reredos of St. Mark's, Venice, known as the Pala d'oro, which
dates from the tenth century, was originally an antependium. To
the following (eleventh) century belongs the splendid golden
antependium presented to the Cathedral of Basle by the Emperor
Henry II now in the Mus�e de Cluny at Paris. In five column
arcades the figures of Our Lord, the Archangels Gabriel, Raphael,
and Michael, and St. Benedict are represented. Such costly
antependia as these were of course rare; the material more
commonly used was wood, with representations of Christ or saints.
A painted wooden panel, arcaded in a manner very similar to the
antependium of Basle, is preserved in the episcopal museum of
M�nster in Westphalia. It dates from the twelfth century. Down to
the tenth century the ciborium was in general use as a protection
and ornamental feature of altars. The ciborium of Sant' Apollinare
in Classe, Ravenna, which belongs to the early ninth century, is,
as noted above, essentially the same as those of the earlier
period. After the tenth century, however, except in Italy and the
Orient, where ciboria were always in favour, they were rarely
employed. The best example of a ciborium of the early Gothic
period is in the Church of Our Lady of Halberstadt, Germany; two
other Gothic ciboria are in the cathedrals of Ratisbon and Vienna.
In Italy numerous medieval ciboria still exist. The early types of
Christian altar, unlike those most in vogue during the Middle
Ages, had no superstructure. So long, indeed, as the bishop's
throne occupied the centre of the apse, a reredos (retabulum),
which would conceal the bishop from the congregation, would have
been impracticable. By degrees, as we have seen, the custom was
introduced, with the general adoption of the Eastern apse of the
celebrant facing in the same direction as the congregation, and it
became possible to introduce an ornamental panel at the back of
the altar similar to the antependium. Probably the custom of
exposing relics on the altar, approved by Pope Leo IV (P.L., CXV,
677), exercised some influence on the development of the reredos,
and the antependium naturally suggested its form. The reredos was
introduced about the beginning of the twelfth century. The oldest
existing example of it is the Pala d'oro of St. Mark's, Venice,
which, after reconstruction, was detached from the front and
placed at the back of the altar by the Doge Ordefalo Faliero, in
1105. The Church of Kloster-Neuburg, near Vienna, also contains a
beautiful example of a twelfth-century reredos, with
representations from the Old and the New Testament. The reredos of
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was only moderately
elevated when compared with the style which found favour in the
late Gothic and Renaissance periods. The practice of exhibiting
relics was, as we have seen, authorized in the ninth century, but
not before the thirteenth century were reliquaries permanently
kept on, or more frequently behind, the altar. In the latter case
a platform was specially constructed for the purpose In some
instances the reliquaries formed part of the reredos but the more
common arrangement was to place them on a platform. This practice
of permanently exposing relics behind the altar influenced certain
other changes of importance with regard to the ciborium and the
confessio. The latter feature now disappeared; there was no longer
a reason for its existence, since the relics were provided with a
new location; and the ciborium was modified into a baldacchino
elevated above the reliquary back of the altar. An example of this
arrangement, of the thirteenth century, may be seen in the chapel
of the Blessed Virgin, in the church of St. Denis, Paris. At first
only the altar of relics, usually placed at the end of the apse,
was provided with a reredos, but in the course of the fourteenth
century the main altar also was similarly provided. The
comparative simplicity of the early reredos gradually yielded, in
the course of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries,
to the prevalent taste for richness of adornment, and reliquaries
became of secondary consideration. The reredos now became a great
structure, reaching in many instances to the vault of the church,
containing life-sized statues of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, and
the saints, besides a number of representations in relief of
sacred subjects. This structure was usually of wood, carved or
painted. It was connected with the altar by means of a predella,
or altar-step, similar to the predella of modern altars, for
candelabra, on which the Apostles or other saints were depicted.
Towards the end of the sixteenth century the influence of the
Renaissance effected another change in the form of the altar.
Porticoes, modelled after the triumphal arches of antiquity, with
statues in high and low relief, took the place of the reredos, and
more costly materials, such as rare marbles. were employed in
their construction. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
especially, altars of the Renaissance style became surcharged with
ornamentation, often in bad taste and of inferior materials.

MAURICE M. HASSETT
Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc., P.O. Box 281096, Denver, Colorado, USA, 80228.
([email protected]) Taken from the New Advent Web Page
(www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the  entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
edition on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this  worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For  more information please download
the file cathen.txt/.zip.

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