retable

American  

[ri-tey-buhl, ree-tey-] / rɪˈteɪ bəl, ˈriˌteɪ- /

noun

1. a decorative structure raised above an altar at the back, often forming a frame for a picture, bas-relief, or the like, and sometimes including a shelf or shelves, as for ornaments.

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retable British  

/ rɪˈteɪbəl /

noun

1. an ornamental screenlike structure above and behind an altar, esp one used as a setting for a religious picture or carving

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Etymology

Origin of retable

1815–25; < French, equivalent to Old French re ( re ) at the back (< Latin retrō ) + table table; compare Medieval Latin retrōtabulum

Example Sentences

In the choir is a retable of gilded and painted wood, representing the life of St. Cr�pinien, a few tombs, and in the chapels some frescoes of the thirteenth century.

From The Cathedrals of Southern France by Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)

She sits on a very beautiful throne, and has a large, rich, and well-gilded retable, given by Antonio Xuarez de Puga, who was many years her steward.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 30 of 55 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century, Volume XXX, 1640 by Abreu, Antonio Alvarez de

This is a retable of the conventional orthodox form which occupies the usual place—even in this Protestant church—at the end of the choir.

From The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine by Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)

The retable was given by the Old Boys of the King's School.

From The Cathedral Church of Peterborough A Description Of Its Fabric And A Brief History Of The Episcopal See by Sweeting, W. D. (Walter Debenham)

Above the retable is the Madonna with two saints on either side: the crucifix surmounts the whole composition.

From Donatello, by Lord Balcarres by Crawford, David Lindsay, Earl of

Related Words

• shrine