Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
gradino .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun 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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A raised step near the base of a
Christian altar . - noun A
series ofcarvings orpaintings on this step, often forming anarrative .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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On the predella, which is divided into three parts, were once various scenes from the life of St. Nicholas of Bari, two of these are now to be found in the Vatican Gallery.
Fra Angelico J. B. Supino 1869
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In the predella, which is full of charm, are three scenes in distemper -- the Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple, her Marriage, and the Adoration of the Magi.
Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 06 (of 10) Fra Giocondo to Niccolo Soggi Giorgio Vasari 1542
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But the most miraculous part of this panel is the predella, which is full of Friars of the said S. Catherine in the form of little figures.
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 04 (of 10), Filippino Lippi to Domenico Puligo Giorgio Vasari 1542
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In the predella, which is a rare work painted with little figures, there is in the centre the scene of S. Maria di Loreto being carried by the Angels from the regions of S.lavonia to the place where it now stands.
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 05 ( of 10) Andrea da Fiesole to Lorenzo Lotto Giorgio Vasari 1542
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In the predella, which is very beautiful, and painted by him likewise in distemper, he depicted S. Francis receiving the S.igmata; S. Anthony of Padua, who, in order to convert some heretics, performs the miracle of the Ass, which makes obeisance before the sacred Host; and S. Bernardino of S.ena, who is preaching to the people of his city on the Piazza de 'S.gnori.
Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 06 (of 10) Fra Giocondo to Niccolo Soggi Giorgio Vasari 1542
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Ercole, then, who was a better draughtsman than Costa, painted, below the panel executed by Lorenzo in the Chapel of S. Vincenzio in S. Petronio, certain scenes in distemper with little figures, so well and with so beautiful and good a manner, that it is scarcely possible to see anything better, or to imagine the labour and diligence that Ercole put into the work: and thus the predella is a much better painting than the panel.
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 03 (of 10), Filarete and Simone to Mantegna Giorgio Vasari 1542
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The "predella", divided into seven parts, represents the birth of Saint Dominic; the dream of Pope Honorius III., to whom the Saint appears in act of steadying the falling church; the meeting of the
Fra Angelico J. B. Supino 1869
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Generally, I believe these views emphasize all of the aspects noted in our earlier considerations of the particular elements; the importance of the use colour, the addition of sculptured and painted imagery, the new location and form of the tabernacle, the new, more substantial form of the altar -- and, I might add, the thoughts about greenery, the moderate use of flowers, and the benefits of the predella and ciborium.
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Were the forward altar longer, fully vested with an antependium, upon a predella and appointed with substantive altar cross and candles, this would be mitigated significantly.
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The priest, deacon and subdeacon come before the altar, and ascend to the predella; the rubrics do not say that they genuflect before doing so.
brightshade commented on the word predella
1 a step or platform on which an altar is placed.
2 a raised shelf above an altar.
• a painting or sculpture on this, typically forming an appendage to an altarpiece.
ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from Italian, literally ‘stool.’
(New Oxford American Dictionary)
June 7, 2009