predella

[ pri-del-uh; Italian pre-del-lah ]

noun,plural pre·del·le

[pri-del-ee; Italian pre-del-le]. /prɪˈdɛl i; Italian prɛˈdɛl lɛ/.

Fine Arts. the base of an altarpiece, often decorated with small paintings or reliefs.

Origin of predella

First recorded in 1840–50; from Italian, from unattested Langobardic predel, pretel, derivative of pret- “board,” from Germanic bret-, source of Old High German brët (German Brett ), Old English, Old Saxon bred “board, plank”); conformed in Italian to the diminutive suffix -ella; see -elle,board

Words Nearby predella

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

How to use predella in a sentence

But this design is only the predella beneath the picture “Faith and Love.”
Theodore Watts-Dunton | James Douglas
The three small predella pictures , the Nativity, the martyrdom of Sts.
The Story of Florence | Edmund G. Gardner
The predella pictures are of scenes in the life of St. Hyacinth, who therefore is probably the subject of our panel also.
A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign Schools | Various
This picture was formerly the predella of an altar-piece in San Domenico at Fiesole.
A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign Schools | Various
Two compartments of a predella by him are in the Accademia at Florence, a fourth being in the Louvre.
A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign Schools | Various

British Dictionary definitions for predella

predella

/ (prɪˈdɛlə, Italian preˈdɛlla) /

nounplural -le (-liː, Italian -le)

a painting or sculpture or a series of small paintings or sculptures in a long narrow strip forming the lower edge of an altarpiece or the face of an altar step or platform
a platform in a church upon which the altar stands

Origin of predella

C19: from Italian: stool, step, probably from Old High German bret board

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

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