Altar

ALTAR. – A flat horizontal surface, raised above the ground, intended for sacrifice.

1. JEWISH ARCHAEOLOGY

In the Old Testament (Heb. and Phoen. mizbāh, “that upon which one sacrifices,” rarely bāmah [v.], which generally designates places of idolatrous worship), the altar is a raised place, later a platform, upon which gifts or victims are offered to God; later it also implies the concept of a table (“the table of Yahweh,” Mal. 1:7, 12; Ez. 41:22). The first one mentioned is Noah’s, Gen. 8:20; Abraham erected altars at Shechem, near Bethel, at Mamre, and on Moriah, Gen. 12:7 ff.; 13:18; 22:9; Isaac at Beersheba, Gen. 26:25; Jacob at Bethel, Gen. 28:18; 35:14; Moses at Rephidim, with twelve masšebāth, at the foot of Sinai (Ex. 17:15; 24:4). The primitive form seems to have been a rocky block or a heap of unhewn stones; later the Mosaic Law sanctioned the use of rough stones, forbidding the addition of steps (Ex. 20:24-26); outside the central sanctuary, a glacial boulder was used (I Sam. 6:14; 14:33-35). Intimately connected with sacrifice by fire, its form and structure were minutely regulated by

Moses in the two official and essential altars of the Tabernacle, later enlarged in Solomon’s Temple: a) the altar of holocausts (Ex. 28:1-8; 38:1-7), the altar par excellence (I Reg. 2:28), in the court, also intended for bloodless sacrifices, made of acacia wood covered with bronze, and therefore also called the “bronze altar” (I Reg. 8:64; II Reg. 16:14), 3 cubits high (10 in the Temple), 5 cubits long and wide (20 in the Temple; the dimensions increased still further in the Herodian Temple), solemnly consecrated (Ex. 30:25-28), upon which the perpetual holocaust was offered morning and evening and the fire was kept constantly burning. B) the altar of incense or perfumes (Ex. 30:1-10; I Reg. 6:20, 22) in the Sanctuary, made of cedar covered with gold (“golden altar”; I Reg. 7:48), 2 cubits high and 1 cubit long and wide, upon which incense was burned morning and evening.

A distinctive feature of the Jewish altar was the presence of “horns” or projections (Ex. 27:2; 37:25; I Reg. 1:50; Ez. 43:20) at the four upper corners. This practice in the Semitic world is found only outside Israel, in Phoenicia and Canaan. Their significance is uncertain; perhaps they were a remnant of the masšebāth formerly erected upon the altar (the hypothesis of H. Gressmann), whose erection the Law had prohibited (Deut. 16:21). Their importance was considerable (Lev. 8:15; Ex. 21:14; I Reg. 1:50; 2:28): they were touched with the blood of the victims (Ex. 29:12; Lev. 4:25, 30, 34) and conferred the right of asylum upon criminals.

Although the unity of the national sanctuary (connected with the Ark of the Covenant) was never denied in law, the law of the unity of worship (Lev. 17:1-9; Deut. 12:4-25, frequently recalled in the following chapters) was not applied absolutely in Israel to the unity of the altar whenever circumstances required otherwise. Moses did not entirely exclude other altars (Ex. 20:24; Deut. 12:13 f.). Indeed, others were subsequently erected legitimately on Ebal (Jos. 8:30), among the three Transjordanian tribes and at Shechem (ibid. 22:9-34; 24:26 f.); in Samuel’s time, at Mizpah, Ramah, Gilgal, and Bethlehem (I Sam. 7:5-17; 9:13; 10:8; 14:35; 20:16).

With the fall of the Temple, the altar disappeared from Israel; consequently sacrifice ceased, as did the essence of Jewish worship. In its place arises the altar of the messianic offering “from the East to the West” (Mal. 1:10 f.).

For the altar in non-Christian religions, V. ARA.

2. CHRISTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Christianity inherited the use of the altar from Judaism and in part from paganism. The use of the altar was introduced into sacrifices and libations both for the sake of convenience in their performance, and because of the natural concept of the table upon which the holocaust is burned, and because of a sense of reverence and solemnity that forbade placing the offering simply on the ground.

For the altar among the Jews, V. above. Greeks and Romans (v. ARA) had altars in the form of hearths or tables for bloodless offerings (especially before the im-

ALTARE - Tripod table - Cemetery of Callistus (beginning of the 3rd century).

images of the gods inside the temples and in the cult of the dead) and properly so-called a., constructed of masonry and marble blocks, generally parallelepiped in shape and later also cylindrical; when large, with access steps; almost always decorated with reliefs (acroteria, crowns, objects of worship, laurel branches, clumps of greenery, etc.). Small a. were everywhere; large a. were found only in temples, not inside the cella but in front of it, in the open air, where worship took place. Every a. had to be dedicated with special rites.

From the beginning, Christians used tables (mensa) to renew the memory of the Last Supper, according to the Lord’s command; but since this was also the renewal of the memory of the sacrifice of the Cross, those same tables were also called a. At first, they were the ordinary tables consecrated to meals in the homes of the faithful; later, proper tables reserved for worship in the earliest churches (certainly by the end of the 2nd century), placed near the bishop’s cathedra and the pulpit. We do not know what these first a. looked like. The tripod tables that appear in the so-called sacrament chapels in the Cemetery of Callistus in Rome perhaps provide us with an indication. Were they fixed or movable? At least it is certain that, from the age of peace onward, the use of fixed a. in churches became increasingly established, while the use of movable ones was restricted to wholly exceptional circumstances.

For this period we have numerous literary testimonies concerning a., and, from approximately the end of the 5th century, substantial monumental remains. The prevailing type is that of a. in the form of a table (v. art). The a. consisting of a continuous block was also not uncommon, clearly imitating the form of pagan and Jewish examples. The body of the a. consisted of a single block of marble or of masonry, generally with a special table made of a marble slab. They were generally smaller than ours, since they served only for the oblation, especially when they were movable a. Simple wooden a. were common, but there were also very rich ones, covered with bronze, silver, and even gold. A slight hollow was also commonly made in the table to contain the oblations more securely, especially in the East, where a. in the form of a horseshoe or semicircle were used, with

twelve sectors representing the places of the twelve Apostles at the Last Supper.

It was a constant rule that each church should have a single a., placed in front of the apse, generally on its axis. When several a. are sometimes mentioned, such as the seven “silver” ones donated by Constantine to S. Giovanni in Laterano, these are not true a., but tables or tables for the accessory needs of worship. It is only at the beginning of the 5th century that we learn that Symmachus erected five a. in the (round) church of S. Andrea near S. Pietro. The practice soon spread. The oldest surviving monumental examples of secondary a. are those of S. Maria Antiqua in Rome and S. Vitale in Ravenna.

From the end of the 2nd century onward, we have information about a liturgical cult of the martyrs. Their commemoration was carried out chiefly with the Mass. Given the assimilation, customary among Christians, of the person of the martyr to that of Christ, at Mass they sought to place the a. as close as possible to the martyr’s tomb; indeed, the martyr’s tomb itself often served as an a., and the celebration took place upon II. It is not correct, as has so often been claimed, that table tombs or arcosolia were intentionally made for the sacrifice to be celebrated upon them; this practice became established and developed more fully during the 4th century, with the growth of the cult of the martyrs and the construction of the numerous cemetery basilicas ad corpus. The martyr is now regarded as lying beneath the a. itself, guarding II. Thus there developed the concept of the tomb a., of the a. consecrated and dedicated by the presence of the body of a martyr. In a short time this latter idea became so powerful that already in the 6th century the consecration of an a. was no longer conceived without the relics of a martyr, at least representative ones, placed inside a small reliquary cavity made in the thickness of the table itself, or in the block supporting it, or beneath the a. in the pavement. More slowly, the concept of the tomb or sarcophagus a. (v. art) took hold and developed; in the Renaissance and modern times it was destined to become a source of such rich artistic and monumental inspiration.

3. LITURGY

In the current discipline (CIC, canons 1197–1202), the a. is fixed or movable. The fixed or immovable a. consists of a table (slab or board) of stone, supported by uprights, also of stone, to which it is attached in such a way as to form a single object. The upright may be a single one, in the center of the table; alternatively, it may consist of four pillars or small columns (the space between the small columns may also be filled with another material), or of four slabs supporting the table and forming with it a single chest. It may also form a single monolith with the table, in which case it is a filled-in a. The movable or portable a. consists of a stone slab of considerably smaller dimensions, but sufficient to contain the Host and most of the base of the chalice. It is also commonly called the sacred stone (v.). There are also a. that display characteristics of stability without being fixed, that is, constructed in a form similar to fixed a. but made of masonry or wood, with the sacred stone set into their table. Liturgically, these do not constitute an intermediate type, but are true movable a.

In the immovable a., the table and the upright must be of natural stone, nonfriable and in no way artificially produced, as concrete or another composition would be; the same applies to the slab of the portable a., since in both cases it must be made entirely of one piece and not of different pieces, even if perfectly joined together. The immovable a. is not to be considered such because it must be immovable from the floor or from the place where it was built; rather, it takes its name from the inseparability of the table from the upright or base supporting it, with which it forms a single whole. It can therefore be transported from one place to another, provided that the base is not detached from the table and that both are transported together, joined to one another.

Every a. must have a cavity in which are placed three grains of incense, the relics, and a parchment signed by the bishop and sealed, attesting to the consecration of the a. The relics must be those of saints, not of beati, and at least one must be that of a martyr. The burial cavity may be cut in the middle of the slab, in its front or rear part, or in the top of the upright. Its cover must always be of stone, even if different from that of the a. The burial cavity may therefore not be filled with concrete or closed with a metal slab; moreover, the seal may not be fixed with plaster or another substance, but with cement.

The number of altars in each church is not determined. The one situated in the principal place, and usually more spacious and higher, is called the major altar. It should be isolated, so that it can be walked around. Since the altar represents the mountain of Jesus’ sacrifice, it should be placed at a height, and this is provided for by steps. At least one is indispensable; the others, while possibly retaining an odd number, are left to the judgment of local adaptation. The steps may also be made of non-natural stone or wood. The upper one shall be as long as the altar and shall have a platform (predella or suppedaneum) beneath the celebrant’s feet. Properly speaking, the altar is erected to God, because it is destined for sacrifice; nevertheless, a fixed altar must be dedicated to some mystery or some saint, not to a blessed person without a special indult, from whom it takes its title. The major altar shall always bear the title of the church. The title of a consecrated altar may not be changed without special permission from the Holy See. Two altars with the same title in the same church are forbidden.

All profane use being excluded, the altar must serve only for worship, and particularly for the celebration of Mass; therefore corpses may be buried neither beneath it, unless there is a cavity, nor nearby, at a distance of less than one metre from the side of the mensa, nor in front of it; and until they have been removed, the celebration of Mass is forbidden there (can. 1201, § 2). The immovable altar must be consecrated in its entirety, mensa and support, according to the rite of the Pontificale Romano; in the case of a movable altar, only the sacred stone (can. 1199). The minister of this consecration is the bishop; by privilege, cardinals not possessing episcopal orders as well (can. 239). A church cannot be consecrated without also consecrating an altar; however, altars may be consecrated independently of the consecration of the church (can. 1165, § 5). No fixed altar may be erected outside places specifically designated for worship. Significant breaks in the material or at the place of anointing, the removal of the relics, the breaking or removal of their cover (unless it is done by the bishop or his delegate in order to secure, repair, or inspect it), and the separation of the mensa from the support desacralize the altar, so that the celebration of Mass is forbidden there until its consecration has been renewed (can. 1200).

The simple majesty of the altars of the earliest times gradually gave way to the various ornaments that came to enrich them over the centuries. The ceremonial of bishops prescribes a canopy over the altar, and decrees 2912 and 3525 of the Sacred Congregation of Rites state that «ommino apponatur» on the altar where the Most Blessed Sacrament is preserved. Today, however, the canopy has almost generally fallen into disuse, giving way to the picture or altarpiece. Immediately above the altar, in the place of honour, the cross with the image of the Crucified is placed; it must rise above the candlesticks, but it may be omitted when, in the picture or on the wall behind the altar, there is a painted or sculpted image of the cross with the Crucified, clearly visible to the celebrant and the faithful. The candlesticks are placed on the two sides of the cross: six on the major altar, at least two on the others; they may not be replaced by branched candelabra. The candlesticks must be surmounted by candles. Other lights, such as gas and electricity, are permitted only for illumination and ornament, but not on the altar, nor before the saints or in their niches, nor inside the tabernacle (decrees 1086, 1097, 4206, 4327). The ceremonial of bishops (c. XII, 12) recommends, as ornamentation for the altar on feast days, the relics of the saints and flowers to be placed among the candlesticks. The flowers must be fresh and natural, not artificial. Three linen or hemp cloths are required on the altar, and the upper one

(phot. Pont. Comm. Arch. Sacra)
ALTAR – A. with fenestella (6th century) – Rome, Cemetery of Panfilo.

ALTARE - A. with cloth, chalice, and offerings. Mosaic of the 6th century - Ravenna, S. Vitale.

(Alinari photograph)

must extend down to the ground on both sides. The general rubrics of the missal and the ceremonial of bishops (XII, 11) require the a. to have a frontal of the color, if possible, of the day’s office. It may be omitted when the outer face of the a. is made of marble, painted, or sculpted, or when it is formed by small columns, or if it encloses some reliquary.
PAPAL ALTAR. – This is the high altar of the patriarchal basilicas of S. Giovanni, S. Pietro, S. Paolo, S. Maria Maggiore and S. Lorenzo al Verano in Rome; of S. Francesco (Benedetto XIV) and S. Maria degli Angeli (Pio X) in Assisi. Only the Pope has the right to celebrate at II. Rarely, and only in extraordinary circumstances, does the Pope have some high-ranking prelate celebrate there (cf. can. 823, § 3).
A. PRIVILEGIATO. — This is the one that enjoys the indulgence of a plenary indulgence to be applied to the deceased for whom Mass is celebrated. This privilege is granted only to a fixed altar, and may be perpetual or temporary, daily or not (can. 918). The privilege is renewed if the altar is destroyed and rebuilt within 50 years under the same title (S. Congregazione delle Indulgenze, 18 July 1712 and 24 April 1843). On the day of the Commemoration of the Dead all altars are privileged (can. 917), as are those of the church where the Forty Hours are celebrated. Cardinals enjoy the privileged altar (can. 239), as do those to whom it has been granted by the Pope; in this case the privilege is not real but personal. To gain this plenary indulgence, it is necessary that it be applied to the deceased for whom Mass is celebrated (S. Congr. delle Ind., 19 December 1885). There are also privileged altars for which the plenary indulgence is applied to the living and the dead.

4. ARTE

Because of the tremendous importance it has in the development of the liturgy, artists have at all times concentrated their attention on the altar in order to make its forms ever richer. Consequently, the archaeological division into the four types—table, chest, block, and sarcophagus—based solely on the form of the support presumed to bear the marble slab, proves insufficient in the face of the infinite variety of forms. The oldest altars, such as the fragmentary examples found at Baccano and Aix (5th century), had four slender corner supports or one larger central support, and the mensa was ornamented along its thickness with doves or crossed clipei. Such a type was very widespread, judging from the mosaic representations in the Baptistery of the Orthodox and in S. Vitale. Also of very ancient origin are those consisting of a fenestella confessionis (v.) permits access to the tomb for the cloths that were later regarded and used as relics (brandea): whereas in the altar of the Panfilo cemetery the motif does not yet possess artistic value, in those of S. Giovanni Evangelista at Ravenna and of the basilica of Parenzo (6th century), the framing and ornamentation reveal a refined decorative balance. At times the block between the columns has a decorated front, as in S. Vitale at Ravenna, where the cross between lambs recalls the flattened relief of contemporary sarcophagi. The altar of Ratchis at Cividale (8th century), despite its barbaric treatment of common iconographic themes, attests to the development of an ornamental system directed toward ever greater embellishment of the altar. With the first teguri (v. CIBORIO) to have survived, dating from the 8th–9th centuries (Perugia, Ravenna, Valpollicella), the altar acquired an architectural framing that scenographically emphasized its importance against the background of the apsidal conch. The altar of S. Ambrogio in Milan, in gold with repoussé work, enamels, and settings, the Vuolvinio (v.), frames, in the balanced arrangement of the relief panels, the medieval taste for color and precious materials. The small altar of S. Maria del Priorato in Rome, with its closed door framed by little pilasters and a pediment, recalls the classical cippi.

In the Romanesque period, there were still some table altars on slender supports, such as that in the crypt of Modena Cathedral, but the very simple solid-block type predominated, with moldings or little pilasters. In Rome, the front is sometimes ornamented with Cosmatesque mosaics (v. COSMATI), which in the example at S. Cesareo acquire a particular architectural significance; the fenestella is sometimes replaced by an openwork screen. There are also some examples in which the mensa is supported by a classical basin. In Salerno Cathedral, by contrast, the antependium consists of a series of ivory reliefs. In the Gothic period, the mass of the altar tended to be- al-

ALTARE — Altar with fenestella, erected by Bishop Eufrasio. Parenzo, Baptistery (6th century).

It becomes lighter and more hollowed out, with real or blind arcades, in keeping with the taste prevailing in architecture. Meanwhile, the practice that became widespread in the fourteenth century of placing panels and anconas permanently upon the altar (v. ANCONA; PALA), together with the multiplication of altars and the consequent need to set them against the wall, led to the formation of an architectural frame which, together with the painting, constituted a retable. Thus, in the early Renaissance, alongside altars that elegantly revived the simplest schemes, others of highly complex form are also found.

In the Pazzi Chapel, Brunelleschi composed the front of the altar with two panels between fluted pilasters; at the Annunziata in Florence, Michelozzo had the mensa supported by amphorae; Agostino di Duccio framed the altar at S. Domenico in Perugia within an arcade with niches and statues; Matteo Cividali, in the altar of S. Regolo in Lucca Cathedral, enclosed within a single decorative complex the mensa, the arca, and the ancona with figures in niches, which other Tuscan sculptors still conceived as a separate element; in the Gondi Chapel at S. Croce, Giuliano da Sangallo gave the mensa, carried by small balusters, a monumental framework with pairs of pilasters connected by an attic, and at S. Maria delle Carceri in Prato he established the type of the aedicule altar with columns and pediment, which was to enjoy such success in the following centuries. Particular mention should be made of the altar in the Basilica del Santo at Padua, adorned with Donatello’s bronze reliefs; this juxtaposition of different materials recalls Venetian pictorialism, which manifests itself in other forms in the altar by P. Lombardo in S. Francesco della Vigna in Venice and in other works of the same kind, where the mensa and the marble panel are conceived as a unit.

While in the early sixteenth century the type with columns and pediment predominated, and later the altars of Orvieto Cathedral and of Milan Cathedral were covered with sculptures, the altar was also enriched with the tabernacle following the prohibition against keeping the Sacrament in a separate receptacle, while the support of the mensa took the form of an urn. A taste for polychromy then began to assert itself, expressed in the use and juxtaposition of marbles of various colours; by the end of the sixteenth century, the columns had already been doubled and were often placed on different planes. Precious hard stones and bronze are juxtaposed in the altar of the Pauline Chapel in S. Maria Maggiore in Rome, where a group of angels supports the image within the architectural frame. Bernini then protected the altar standing over the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles with a bronze baldachin inspired by the sumptuous, weightless structures of solemn festivities, made of stucco and draperies. And in S. Maria della Vittoria he hollowed out an elliptical niche between the columns, where, in the light pouring down from above, the angel transfigures s. Teresa, while the patrons watch from the boxes as though at a sacred performance. Reliefs or sculptural groups thus replace painted panels, or these are framed or supported by garlands of flowers and putti (Rome, S. Andrea). In the altar of the Cathedra in S. Pietro, all means seem to have been summoned together in a triumphant affirmation; the marble of the mensa, the bronze of the statues of the doctors supporting the chair, the stucco of the angelic glory, and the radiant painted glass with the Holy Spirit offer the ultimate possibility attainable by the Baroque in its impassioned lyricism. Heavier and more solemn through a lack of inspiration is the altar of S. Ignazio at the Gesù in Rome, where the richness of the material predominates. In the eighteenth century the taste for polychromy continued, but it abandoned warm tones for more muted and delicate ones; the architectural frame was recomposed in measured rhythms, as in the altar of the Annunciation in S. Ignazio in Rome.

Throughout the Baroque period, statues and the tabernacle also stood separately above the mensa in Padua, Milan, Venice, and throughout Italy; the paliotti, especially in the Lombard region, are often complex low reliefs. Neoclassicism introduced into the altar a cold simplicity of lines, while nineteenth-century eclecticism drew in turn upon Romanesque, Renaissance, or Baroque examples, according to the inclination of the various architects. An interesting addition to the complexity of the major altars in the Roman basilicas is the confession, faced with marble and placed at a level lower than the floor. The forms of the modern altar are extremely simple, almost a geometrical simplification of the most elementary schemes of antiquity; their artistic interest depends especially upon proportions and environmental values.

Mobile altars are likewise of very ancient origin; one of the oldest is that found in the tomb of s. Cutberto, consisting of a simple wooden board with a metal covering. In the Romanesque period, examples are found in the form of a casket, such as the one in the Museum of Paderborn; at times they are also precious works of goldsmith’s art, such as the portable altar of Stanelot, now in Brussels. An example of a carved wooden altar is that of the church of Vulturella near Tivoli, also dating from the twelfth century. — Vedi Tavv. LXVII-LXXI.