Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

Get access

Altarpiece
(2,811 words)

1. Concept and significance of the altarpiece

The Modern-Period altarpiece, like its medieval counterpart, is a pictorial representation installed above an altar. Its subject matter refers to the altar’s donor, its patron saint (dedicatory title), or the liturgy celebrated before it. Besides altarpieces of wood or canvas, more rarely copper or stone, wall-mounted paintings a…

Cite this page
Ramisch, Hans, “Altarpiece”, 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_COM_016753>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



▲   Back to top   ▲