antependium

[an-tee-pen-dee-uhm]

noun

plural

antependia 

1. the decoration of the front of an altar, as a covering of silk or a painted panel.

antependium

/ ˌæntɪˈpɛndɪəm /

noun

1. a covering hung over the front of an altar

Word History and Origins

Origin of antependium¹

From Medieval Latin, dating back to 1690–1700; ante-, pend, -ium

Word History and Origins

Origin of antependium¹

C17: from Medieval Latin, from Latin _ante- + pendēre to hang

Example Sentences

In the more abstract works like one based on an antependium — a traditional type of banner that hangs from the front of a lectern or altar — the profuse ornamental patterning and the illuminated colored glass still exert much visual magnetism.

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Antependium, an-te-pend′i-um, n. a frontlet, forecloth, frontal, or covering for an altar, of silk, satin, or velvet, often richly embroidered.

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There are also reproductions of a medieval tapestry, History of Venus, and several sculptures, notably St. George and the Dragon by Fritz Preiss and Fulda's 11th century antependium for Basel Cathedral.

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The earliest known instance of a composition of the kind, however, is a series of enamels on an antependium or altar-frontal in the St Leopold Chapel at Klosterneuburg, near Vienna, which originally contained forty-five pictures dealing with Biblical subjects, arranged in the same order as in the Biblia Pauperum, and which were executed by Nicolas de Verdun, in 1181.

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Antependium.—The name given to the covering hanging in front of the lectern, pulpit or Altar, and being the color of the Church Season.

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