Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

Get access

Altar design
(807 words)

As the most important item of liturgical furniture in Christian church interior, the altar in its fundamental form comprises only a supporting structure (Latin stipes) and a table slab (Latin mensa). In Modern-Period written sources, however, the term “altar” is more frequently used synonymously with its decoration. The German term Altarbaukunst is not attested historically; the first comprehensive German study devoted to the stylistic development of altars under that term appeared in 1923 [2]. Studies in the context of art history embrace the development of the a…

Cite this page
Reuter, Guido, “Altar design”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_016752>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



▲   Back to top   ▲