User:Festina lente 16/sandbox

"The true liturgical decoration of the altar and its oldest adornment is the frontal (pallium,palla,paramentum,frontale,antependium

)."

By the 7th to 8th century rich materials were customary in the fabrication of an antependiums, particularly gold embroideries. From the 8th century onward antependia were often made from a variety of materials including metal, gold, silver, gilt, and enamels.

Thirty one painted altar frontals dated to the 13th - 14th century survive from Norway.

The majority of surviving Medieval wooden painted altar frontals from Spain originate in the province of Catalonia.

Perhaps the article needs sections such as Norwegian antependiums,. Spanish Antependiums etc... at least for those with the largest extant examples..??? ADD:

Italian Antependiums

Italian Altar frontals

The earliest extant painted wooden antependium in Italian art is the one attributed to the Maestro di Tressa in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, Italy.[1]  It is dated 1215 and is tempera and gold on panel, embellished with pastiglia decoration to mimic metalwork.[2] It is generally called “Il Paliotto del Salvatore” or the Antependium of the Savior.

The upper frame bears the inscription: " Anno D[omi]ni Millesimo CCXV: mense Novembri: hec tabula facta est ".

"In the year of the Lord, One thousand two hundred fifteen: in the month of November: this table was made."

The Liber Pontificalis states that during the eight and ninth centuries coverings for the altar made of gold thread and decorated with jewels and pearls and embroidered with figures of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Apostles were given to the great Roman basilicas by succeeding Popes. [1] Michele Bacci, "The Berardegna Antependium and the Passio Ymaginis Office." Journal of the Warburg and Courtald Institutes, vol. 61 ( 1998) pp. 1-16.

[2] Pastiglia is a plaster used during the Italian Renaissance for bas-relief ornament of furniture, generally applied in layers, molded, carved, and gilded.

add link to Paliotto del Salvatore ( italian page)

add linked photo from that page.....

This colors section needs work.

Colours[edit]
Main article: Liturgical colors

The colours used tend to be suggested by the liturgical tradition of each denomination. Most Western Christian churches that observe a developed liturgical tradition use white, gold, red, green, violet and black, with each being used on specified occasions. A rose colour may be employed for the fourth Sunday (Laetare Sunday) in Lent and the third Sunday (Gaudete Sunday) in Advent. In Anglican circles, blue is sometimes prescribed for feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary (see liturgical colours), although it is also used, unofficially, in some areas of the Roman Catholic Church. Among Eastern Christians, there tend to be two types of vestments: somber (dark) ones and festal (bright) ones. Beyond that, no specific colours are officially required. Among groups such as the Russian Orthodox Church, a pattern of fixed colours has developed, somewhat similar to that used in the West, although they are not, strictly speaking, required.

Pocknee states that in the eastern Orthodox church the altar is generally covered with 2 cloths which serve the same purpose as a frontal. Pocknee pg. 47.

Cyril E. Pocknee, The Christian Altar: In History and Today. Canterbury Press, London, 1969.

Pocknee also sites Palladius writing in 421 that Roman ladies " who renouncing the world" bequeathed their silks to be used for coverings for the altar. Pocknee pg. 46

Pocknee pg 48 discusses traditional vs modern Liturgical color sequences.