altarpiece

American  

[awl-ter-pees] / ˈɔl tərˌpis /

noun

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

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altarpiece British  

/ ˈɔːltəˌpiːs /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of altarpiece

First recorded in 1635–45; altar + piece

Example Sentences

This altarpiece marks the Italian artist coming into his own at the end of the Renaissance, its vision of Christ after his crucifixion rendered in an expressive, enigmatic style.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

St Johns' Almshouse, in Sherborne, Dorset, said it received the shock news after giving the altarpiece to Sotheby's auction house for safekeeping during renovation work.

From BBC • Nov. 14, 2025

The wings, Israels said, would have been scraped off when the altarpiece was disassembled and the wing fragments would no longer have made sense.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 19, 2024

Like a scaled-up Joseph Cornell box, the assemblage transmogrifies thrift-store finds into a serious work of art: It recalls a medieval Christian altarpiece.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2022

He cannot make himself stay in town, even to finish the altarpiece.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day