predella
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary:
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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.
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:
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predella
predella (prĕdĕl'lä), 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 on Answers.com:
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Predella
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A predella is the platform or step on which an altar stands (predalla It. = kneeling stool). In painting, the predella is the painting or sculpture 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 events 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:
- Duccio - the predella of his Maestà - one of the earliest predellas.
- Lorenzo Monaco - Incidents in the Life of Saint Benedict (c. 1407-1409)
- Luca Signorelli - Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1496)
- Andrea Mantegna - San Zeno Altarpiece (1459)
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McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture & Construction
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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Mentioned in
Predella
(art)
Melchior Salaboss
(art)
Bonaventura Berlinghieri
(Italian painter)
Master of the Osservanza
(art)
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