altarpiece

[ awl-ter-pees ]

/ ˈɔl tərˌpis /

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noun

a painted or carved screen behind or above the altar or communion table in Christian churches; reredos.

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Origin of altarpiece

First recorded in 1635–45; altar + piece

Words nearby altarpiece

altar call, altar card, altar cloth, altar girl, altar of repose, altarpiece, altar rail, altar stone, altazimuth, altazimuth coordinate system, altazimuth mount

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use altarpiece in a sentence

Köhn was sent to Ghent to find it before the Nazis stole the rest of the altarpiece.
Inside Hitler’s Fantasy Museum|Noah Charney|February 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The two Nazi leaders actually raced one another to be the first to steal the altarpiece.
Hitler’s Hunt for the Holy Grail and the Ghent Altarpiece|Noah Charney|December 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Why did Hitler crave the missing panel in the famous Ghent Altarpiece?
Hitler’s Hunt for the Holy Grail and the Ghent Altarpiece|Noah Charney|December 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They surely had designs on seizing the entire altarpiece, and did not wish it to be incomplete when they did so.
Hitler’s Hunt for the Holy Grail and the Ghent Altarpiece|Noah Charney|December 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The Treaty of Versailles mentioned only four works of cultural heritage, foremost among them The Ghent Altarpiece.
Hitler’s Hunt for the Holy Grail and the Ghent Altarpiece|Noah Charney|December 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He died at Bocairente (near Jativa) while engaged upon an altarpiece in the church there, on the 21st of December 1579.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 4|Various
It once formed part of an altarpiece at S. Severino, long since broken up and dispersed.
Chantilly in History and Art|Louise M. Richter
Detail of marble altarpiece in alto relievo in cathedral of Fiesole, being a part of the monument of Bishop Salutati.
Tuscan Sculpture of the Fifteenth Century|Estelle M. Hurll
Its tower and chapel are Grecian, and the chapel has a most beautiful carved screen and altarpiece.
England, Picturesque and Descriptive|Joel Cook
To a later period belong only the organ with Sienas wolf, which is a work of the early Cinquecento, and the altarpiece.
The Story of Siena and San Gimignano|Edmund G. Gardner

British Dictionary definitions for altarpiece

altarpiece

/ (ˈɔːltəˌpiːs) /

noun

a work of art set above and behind an altar; a reredos

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012