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Details / Information for Altar Front

Altar Front

c. 540–600

early Byzantium, Constantinople or Ravenna, Byzantine period, 6th century

Medium
marble
Measurements
Overall: 101 x 169.5 x 25.5 cm (39 3/4 x 66 3/4 x 10 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1948.25
Public Domain
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Location
105 Byzantine
Print
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Did You Know?

This marble altar was likely in a Byzantine church that was opulently decorated with mosaics, rich textiles, and gilded lamps. Worshipers would have witnessed the rituals of faith that occurred at the altar, enshrined behind a barrier called a templon, and accessible only to the clergy.

Description

This carved marble panel resembles the front of an Early Byzantine sarcophagus, or coffin. While its decoration is typical of those produced in the Italian city of Ravenna during the 500s, its size is considerably smaller, indicating that the panel may instead have been made as an altar front. It is likely that the small window between the center columns with its opened curtains once allowed the faithful to contemplate a precious reliquary placed inside. The decorative repertoire of the panel includes both architectural forms--arches, pediments, and columns--and a number of symbols commonly found in Early Christian art including scallop shells, lambs, palms, and crosses that represent the concepts of life, the sacrifice of Christ, victory over death, and eternal life.
A horizontal marble relief depicts an architectural scene partitioned by four columns. Centrally, stone curtains drape from an arched opening beneath a pediment where two sheep face a red-tinted cross. The side panels feature large flared crosses under shell-shaped fans, with carved palm trees at the outer edges. The white marble displays subtle gray veining throughout the symmetrical composition of religious and natural motifs.

Altar Front

c. 540–600

early Byzantium, Constantinople or Ravenna, Byzantine period, 6th century

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