Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

predella

 
Dictionary: Pre·del·la

n.

[It.]
The step, or raised secondary part, of an altar; a superaltar; hence, in Italian painting, a band or frieze of several pictures running along the front of a superaltar, or forming a border or frame at the foot of an altarpiece.


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Architecture: predella
Top


1. The bottom tier of an altar-piece, between the principal panel or bas-relief and the altar itself.
2. The broad platform on which the altar rests.
3. An altar ledge.


 
Columbia Encyclopedia: predella
Top
predella (prĕdĕl'), Italian term for a painted panel, usually small, belonging to a series of panels at the bottom of an altarpiece. The form was used mainly in Italy from the 13th to the 16th cent. Often added as a "footnote" to the main theme of an altarpiece, predella panels generally consist of narrative scenes, e.g., the Passion of Jesus or the lives of the saints. The artist had an opportunity to express himself with more inventiveness and vivacity in these episodes than in the main panel, where the image was conventionalized to a greater extent. Several beautiful panels from back of the Maestà by Duccio are in the National Gallery, Washington, D.C., which also has two scenes by Domenico Veneziano.

Bibliography

See study by R. Salvini and L. Traverso (tr. 1961).


Wikipedia: Predella
Top
Altarpiece by Carlo Crivelli. The predella has scenes from the Passion of Christ.
Altarpiece with carved and painted predella at Marienkirche Stralsund, Germany.

A predella is the platform or step on which an altar stands (predalla It. = kneeling stool). In painting, predella refers to the paintings or sculptures running along the frame at the bottom of an altarpiece. In later medieval and Renaissance altarpieces, where the main panel consisted of a scene with large static figures, it was normal to include a predella below with a number of small-scale narrative paintings depicting incidents from the life of the dedicatee, whether Christ, the Virgin Mary or a saint. Typically there would be three to five small scenes, in a horizontal format.

They are significant in art history, as the artist had more freedom from iconographic conventions than in the main panel; they could only be seen from close up. As the main panels themselves became more dramatic, during Mannerism, predellas were no longer painted, and they are rare by the middle of the 16th century. Predella scenes are now often separated from the rest of the altarpiece in museums.

Examples of predellas include:


 
 
Learn More
superaltar
Predella (art)
Melchior Salaboss (art)

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. Webster 1913 Dictionary edited by Patrick J. Cassidy  Read more
Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Predella" Read more