ICONOSTASIS. - From the Greek εἰκοναστάσων. In itself, it is any fixture on which an icon is hung or fastened (G. Codinus, De officiis Magnae Ecclesiae et Aulae Constantinopolitanae, Venice 1729); but properly it is the name of the partition interposed between the presbytery and the nave, in use in the ancient Christian basilicas. It consisted of a high wall with a single door in the middle; or else of an architrave supported by columns, whose intercolumniations, except the central one, were closed at the bottom by chancel screens (indeed the columns often stood upon the screens) and, at the top, by veils that concealed the most sacred part of the church from view. In this form it also took the name of pergula (v.).

ICONOSTASIS - 1. of the Western type, that is, pergula (13th cent.). Albe, church of S. Pietro.(from C. Gavini, *Storia dell'architettura in Abruzzo*, Milan 2nd ed., part III, p. 27)

The origin of the iconostasis is very clear. In the most ancient monuments of a public church or chapel, access to the altar was always protected by a balustrade fitted with gates in the center, upon which small columns or pillars crowned by an architrave were later erected. At the top were placed sacred images (whence the name) and statues, and lamps and votive crowns were hung. The iconostasis was generally built of precious material (at S. Giovanni Evangelista in Ravenna, Galla Placidia had caused one of silver to be erected) or was precious in workmanship (in the old St. Peter's it was supported by vine-like columns that still exist). No original examples remain in Rome (that of S. Maria in Cosmedin has been remade on reliable evidence); but in central Italy they are fairly numerous: a provincial example, but complete and very rich in carvings, is that of the Benedictine church of S. Maria in Valle at Rosciolo, datable to the 12th century. Also of the same period are those of the cathedral of Torcello, with its painted architrave, and of S. Marco in Venice, rich in polychrome marbles and surmounted by statues. A kind of iconostasis is found in Spain, in some churches of the Asturias, where, however, the columns do not support an entablature but horseshoe arches raised high (S. Cristina de Lena near Oviedo; S. Miguel de Escalada near León), according to a type that seems to derive from the maqūrah of the Arab mosques. The closed-wall type, of which no ancient examples remain (but it was in use in the Middle Ages, since it is seen represented, viewed from the interior, in Giotto's fresco at Assisi with the Nativity at Greccio), still exists in the East, where it has taken on a particular development. Icons of the Lord and of the saints were hung on the columns, especially during the struggles of the iconoclasts. Then these occupied the spaces hitherto free between one column and another. Sometimes other tiers were superimposed on one level, thus reaching almost to the height of the church's vault. On the iconostasis the figures of Christ, of the Madonna, of St. John the Baptist, of the patrons of the church or of the town, painted on wood, are always distinguishable. Others represent the various categories of saints of the calendar or the principal liturgical feasts. Above the iconostasis a Cross is set up. Three doors give access to the sanctuary: a principal one in the center for the officiants, and two other lateral ones, smaller, for the service of the altar. A curtain is hung behind the principal door: it seems to have replaced the curtain of the ciborium that once withdrew the celebrants from the view of the faithful at certain moments of the sacred synaxes. - See plates XCVI-XCVII.