predella

listen to the pronunciation of predella
English - English
A series of carvings or paintings on this step, often forming a narrative
A raised step near the base of a christian altar
(Also sometimes called a footpace) The raised area or platform on which some Altars or Holy Tables stand The word is Italian and literally means "a footstool "
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
> The Italian word for the strip of small, often rectangular, paintings along the bottom edge of a polyptych altarpiece, frequently depicting scenes from the lives of Saints
An Italian word for the small strip of paintings which forms the lower edge or socle of a large altarpiece (pala) Such a polyptych consists of a principal, central panel with subsidiary side and/or top panels, and a predella: the predella usually has narrative scenes from the lives of the Saints who are represented in the panels above Because of the small size of predelle - they are not usually more than 25-30 cm high, though often relatively very wide - they were frequently used for pictorial experiments that the painter did not wish to risk making in the larger panels The first datable example seems to be that in Simone Martini's S Louis of Toulouse (1317, Naples)