retable

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High altar retable, wood, by José Benito Churriguera, 1693, in the church of San Estéban, Salamanca, Spain. Height about 30 metres.

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Arts & Culture

retable

religious art

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Ghent Altarpiece

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Category: Arts & Culture

Key People:: José Benito Churriguera

Related Topics:: church; altar; altarpiece

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retable, ornamental panel behind an altar and, in the more limited sense, the shelf behind an altar on which are placed the crucifix, candlesticks, and other liturgical objects. The panel is usually made of wood or stone, though sometimes of metal, and is decorated with paintings, statues, or mosaics depicting the Crucifixion or a similar subject. Although frequently forming part of the architectural structure of the church, especially in the High Gothic period, retables can be detached and sometimes, as in the case of the famous retable by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (1432; ...(100 of 181 words)

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