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Baldachin
(redirected from Altar canopy)

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baldachin

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Baldachin, St. Peter's, Vatican City, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1624–33
(credit: SCALA—Art Resource/EB Inc.)
Freestanding canopy of stone, wood, or metal over an altar or tomb. The Italian term baldacchino originally referred to brocaded material from Baghdad hung as a canopy over an altar or throne. The characteristic architectural form consists of four columns supporting entablatures, which carry miniature colonnades topped by a pyramidal or gabled roof. Gian Lorenzo Bernini's famous bronze baldachin (1624–33) stands at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.


baldachin, baldacchino, baldachino, baldaquin, ciborium
An ornamental canopy over an altar, usually supported on columns, or a similar form over a tomb or throne.

Baldachin 

a festive ceremonial awning over a throne, bed, or church altar. It was originally made of cloth but later also of stone, wood, or metal. The baldachin has been known in Russian architecture since the 11th century under the names sen’ and kivorii.



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The Baldacchino, Bernini's huge altar canopy, is breathtaking with its bronze columns.
Inside,one is transfixed by the sheer opulence of Bernini's baroque stained-glass window, the grandeur of his altar canopy and the massiveness of Michaelangelo's dome.
The Baldacchino, Bernini's huge altar canopy, is breathtaking with its bronze columns.
 
 
 
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