predella

American  

[pri-del-uh, pre-del-lah] / prɪˈdɛl ə, prɛˈdɛl lɑ /

noun

predelle plural

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

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predella British  

/ prɪˈdɛlə, preˈdɛlla /

noun

1. 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

2. a platform in a church upon which the altar stands

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• predelle
  plural

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

Just as when this painting graced the altar of the Innocenti church, it is displayed above a predella, which shows a series of scenes.

From Washington Post • Sep. 29, 2016

They added the predella fragments to it, and supplemented it with a selection of four smaller 14th-century altarpieces, intact or partial, from American collections.

From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2012

Aside from the central “Magi” panel, kept in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, only two fragments are known to have survived, both from the cut-up predella.

From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2012

In the Sacristy of the Church are the two predella panels representing the "Adoration of the Magi" and "The Annunciation."

From Great Masters in Painting: Perugino by Williamson, George C.

The 1497 altar-piece at Fano is really a fine picture, and the five predella pictures are remarkably good, perhaps the finest of this style of miniature-like painting that Perugino ever executed.

From Great Masters in Painting: Perugino by Williamson, George C.