A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes .
The term reredos may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for example very grand carved .[ "Reredos", Baca, Murtha, and Visual Resources Association, Cataloging Cultural Objects: A Guide to Describing Cultural Works and Their Images, 2006, American Library Association, , 9780838935644] It also refers to a simple, low stone wall placed behind a hearth.
Description
A reredos can be made of stone, wood, metal,
ivory, or a combination of materials. The images may be painted, carved,
gilded, composed of
, and/or embedded with niches for
. Sometimes a
tapestry or another fabric such as
silk or
velvet is used.
Derivation and history of the term
Reredos is
Etymology through
Middle English from the 14th-century Anglo-Norman
areredos, which in turn is from
arere 'behind' +
dos 'back', from
Latin dorsum. (Despite its appearance, the first part of the word is not formed by doubling the prefix "re-", but by an archaic spelling of "rear".) In the 14th and 15th centuries the term referred generally to an open hearth of a fireplace or to a screen placed behind a table, then became nearly
obsolete until it was revived in the 19th century.
Reredos vs. retable
The term
reredos is sometimes confused with the term
retable. While a
reredos generally forms or covers the wall behind an altar,
a
retable is placed either on the altar or immediately behind and attached to the altar. "Many altars have both a reredos and a retable."
[ Art & Architecture Thesaurus Online "Retable"] But this distinction may not always be observed. The retable may have become part of the reredos when an altar was moved away from the wall. For altars that are against the wall, the retable often sits on top of the altar, at the back, particularly when there is no reredos (in which case a
dossal curtain or something similar is used instead of a reredos). The retable may hold flowers and candlesticks.
In French language (and sometimes in English language by confusing the terms), a reredos is called a retable; in Spanish language a retablo, etc.
Gallery
File:New College Chapel Interior 2, Oxford, UK - Diliff.jpg| New College, Oxford Chapel reredos, UK
File:Retablo mayor de la Basílica del Pilar.jpg|Altar of The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza
File:Tarancon - Iglesia de Nra. Sra. de la Asuncion 3.jpg|Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Tarancón
File:West Bromwich Holy Trinity Church reredos 01.jpg|Holy Trinity Church, West Bromwich, war memorial for World War I
File:SanJuanCapistranoGrandRetablo.jpg|The "Grand Retablo", Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano
File:Basilica Screen Cathedral Basilica St Francis Santa Fe NewMexico PA300106.jpg|Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, Santa Fe, New Mexico
File:Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu inside altar (Osmeña Boulevard, Cebu City; 01-14-2023).jpg|Main altar "retablo" of the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño in Cebu City, Philippines
File:Reredos at St Mary's Church, West Rainton. By Antonio Salviati 01.JPG|Plain altarpiece painting
File:Lalique glass altarpiece in the Glass Church Jersey.jpg|Modern Lalique glass reredos, Saint Matthew's Church ("the Glass Church"), Millbrook, Jersey
File:Grace Church in New York.jpg|Grace Church in New York Reredos, Grace Church (Manhattan)
File:Templo de Santa Rosa de Lima (de las Rosas) en Morelia, Michoacán (6011826833).jpg|Altarpiece and lateral reredos in the Church of Santa Rosa de Lima in Morelia, Mexico, built in the late 18th century
See also
External links
