altarpiece

[ awl-ter-pees ]

noun

1. a painted or carved screen behind or above the altar or communion table in Christian churches; reredos.

altarpiece

/ ˈɔːltəˌpiːs /

noun

1. a work of art set above and behind an altar; a reredos

Word History and Origins

Origin of altarpiece¹

First recorded in 1635–45; altar + piece

Example Sentences

Köhn was sent to Ghent to find it before the Nazis stole the rest of the altarpiece.

From The Daily Beast

The two Nazi leaders actually raced one another to be the first to steal the altarpiece.

From The Daily Beast

Why did Hitler crave the missing panel in the famous Ghent Altarpiece?

From The Daily Beast

They surely had designs on seizing the entire altarpiece, and did not wish it to be incomplete when they did so.

From The Daily Beast

The Treaty of Versailles mentioned only four works of cultural heritage, foremost among them The Ghent Altarpiece.

From The Daily Beast

He died at Bocairente (near Jativa) while engaged upon an altarpiece in the church there, on the 21st of December 1579.

From Project Gutenberg

It once formed part of an altarpiece at S. Severino, long since broken up and dispersed.

From Project Gutenberg

Detail of marble altarpiece in alto relievo in cathedral of Fiesole, being a part of the monument of Bishop Salutati.

From Project Gutenberg

Its tower and chapel are Grecian, and the chapel has a most beautiful carved screen and altarpiece.

From Project Gutenberg

To a later period belong only the organ with Sienas wolf, which is a work of the early Cinquecento, and the altarpiece.

From Project Gutenberg