PALIOTTO (pallium, pannus; antealtare, frontale, antependium). - A covering for the mensa of the altar, formerly called *vestis* or *pallium*, and known as *p.* (from *palliare* = to cover) from the 15th century onward.
In the early Church, on account of the veneration in which it was held, the altar was surrounded with a certain richness and, where possible, covered with plates of gold and silver, or at least with precious fabrics, as is known from the East through St. Ephrem (d. 373), the *Chronicon Paschale*, and St. John Chrysostom. For the West, the famous mosaics of Ravenna (S. Vitale and S. Apollinare) provide a fine example; the *Liber Pontificalis* records many rich coverings offered by the popes, such as by Pope Zachary (741–52) for the basilica of St. Peter, and others who covered the altar entirely or at least on its two main sides. But after the 11th century, with the altar being placed against the wall of the church, namely at the back of the apse, only the front part was covered, whence the names *ante-altare*, *frontale*, *antependium*.
The *Caerimoniale episcoporum* (I. I, cap. 12, n. 2) does not prescribe it, but recommends its use; in the Missal (General Rubrics, tit. XX) it is said to make the *p.* in the colors, if possible, of the feast and the Office.
ART. - For the centuries from which no fabric *p.* survive, there remain some exceedingly precious altar coverings in goldsmith’s work, ivory, and marble. Among the oldest examples, from the mid-8th century, is the marble *p.* of the altar of Duke Rachis in the church of S. Martino at Cividale, coming from S. Giovanni, a masterpiece of naive and primitive art; and, among the most notable, the gold and silver *p.* of the altar of the basilica of S. Ambrogio in Milan, where Magister Vuolvinus (835) employed every variety of goldsmith’s technique (repoussé, niello, enamel) with incomparable skill, following models proper to Carolingian art and a predominantly Byzantine technique.
To the 11th century belong the gold *p.*, believed to be a gift of Henry II (1014–24), formerly in the cathedral of Basel, now in the Musée de Cluny in Paris, and the altars of the Treasury of Conques. More numerous are the examples from the 12th century: the Byzantine-style *p.* in carved ivory with Stories from the Old and New Testaments, now dismembered but almost entirely preserved in the sacristy of the cathedral of Salerno; the silver *p.* with the Redeemer and Stories of His Life in the cathedral of Città di Castello; that of Patriarch Pellegrino II (1195–1204) with Venetian and Byzantine characteristics in the collegiate church of S. Maria Assunta at Cividale. From the 13th century there is an example of a *p.* in marble tesserae, white and green, with triangular and lozenge-shaped tiles, divided into three compartments by trilobate arcading in the abbey of Fiesole, formerly at the altar of S. Romolo, by the master Constantine, as the inscription of 1273 attests; and in the abbey of Sesto al Reghena in Friuli there is a reconstructed *p.* of a Byzantine-style sculptor, perhaps Lombard. At Pistoia, in the church of S. Jacopo, a fine silver *antependium*, whose oldest parts (1287) show the figures of the Virgin and Apostles within Gothic architecture; of 1316 is, still at Pistoia, the chased altar by the Pistoiese Andrea d’Ognabene. In the sacristy of the cathedral of Ascoli Piceno there is preserved a silver *p.* of the second half of the 14th century, of rather rough workmanship, with Stories of the life of the Redeemer; the *p.* of the collegiate church of Monza, by the Milanese Borgino del Pozzo (1350–57), shows a similar technical ineptitude.
From the early 15th century is at Florence the *p.* of the Baptistery, by the Florentines Betto di Geri and Leonardo di ser Giovanni (1366); at Venice, in the Treasury of S. Marco, is the *p.* of Gregory XII (1408), of which only the architectural decorations and figures are original. Among the rare examples of wooden *p.*, there is the one from Aosta, preserved in the Museo civico of Turin, with Romanesque and Gothic elements and French influences.
Many are the fabric *p.* attributable to the 13th century; a magnificent example is in the Cinquantenaire Museum of Brussels, two in the cathedral of Anagni, one in the cathedral of Salisbury, two in the Historical Museum of Berne, one in the Historical Museum of Dresden, one from the Mass vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece in the Museum of the Court of Vienna—all works of the highest quality and well preserved, closely linked to elements of the painting of the period, true masterpieces of needle painting (v. RICAMO).
In Italy, important are the two *p.* of the Treasury of the cathedral of Anagni, recorded among the gifts of Boniface VIII; the first, a rare example of northern school, with the Tree of Life; the second, inspired by Cavallini, a work of central Italy, with Stories of Jesus, the Virgin, and Saints.
A *p.* imported from the East is in the Galleries of Genoa, donated to the city by Emperor Michael Palaeologus (1271–76), who is depicted being introduced into the cathedral by St. Lawrence.
Works from the early 14th century are in the Provincial Museum of Hanover and in the cathedral of Halberstadt; in Italy, noteworthy is the *antependium* of uncertain provenance from the church of S. Maria at Zara, which Toesca considers designed by a follower of Duccio, Cecchelli attributes to a local monastic workshop, and Coletti to a follower of Paolo Veneziano.
In the Pitti Palace, in the Museo degli argenti, is a *p.* embroidered by Jacopo di Cambio, formerly in S. Maria Novella; and likewise in *opus florentinum*, with embroidery partly in relief and with paintings in the shading of the flesh tones (Toesca), is the great *p.* of the church of S. Maria at Manresa in Catalonia by the renowned embroiderer Geri di Lapo. From the 15th century there are also splendid figured *p.*: in the basilica of S. Francesco at Assisi the *p.* of Sixtus IV in silk embroidery, perhaps on a design by Pollaiuolo; in Siena, in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, another *p.* with Stories of Christ and figures of Saints; at the Madonna del Monte of Varese a *p.* donated by Beatrice d’Este and Lodovico il Moro (1491); in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli of Milan a *p.* with the Sforza emblem; at Cortona, in the church of S. Francesco, the Passerini *p.*; in the collegiate church of S. Gennaro the *p.* of the golden doves around the monogram of Jesus (1449); in Florence, in S. Maria Novella, an important *p.* in brocade with embroidered scenes depicting fourteen little Stories of the Life of the Virgin. Magnificent examples of Gobelin tapestry *p.* are preserved in the Bavarian National Museum and at Bruges (Civil Hospital).
Purely ornamental motifs predominate in later *p.*; at Rome, the collection of the church of S. Maria della Vallicella is important. But in the 16th century there are also figured *p.* with motifs and borders among floral decorations: in the Museo sacro of the Vatican the *p.* designed by A. Allori with the Deposition; in Florence, in a *p.* of the National Museum, of 1580, with medallions containing figures of Saints and in the center the Deposition; in Siena, in another *p.* of the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, the motif of the pomegranate within a frieze with the figures of the Risen Christ, the Virgin, and the Magdalene triumphs. Or decorative motifs frame the figures and emblems of the donors (v. , e.g., in Turin, in the Museo civico, and in Siena, in the Episcopal Seminary, the two *p.* with the arms of the Borromeo family).
In Italy, *p.* from the 17th century survive: see the examples in the Treasury of the basilica of S. Francesco at Assisi, in Milan in the Castello Sforzesco, formerly at Lorico in Valtellina, in Siena in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo bearing the arms of Alexander VII, in Brescia in the Duomo nuovo with that of Bishop Ottoboni. Exceptional for the 17th and 18th centuries are *p.* still rich in figures, such as those in the church of the Jesuits at Cologne and those at Neuburg and in the Bavarian National Museum. — V. tavv. XLVII–XLVIII.