# Dossal > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Dossal > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Dossal.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dossal > Source revision: 1330504144 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Ornamental cloth or panel hung behind an altar}} [[File:Cappella bardi 14.JPG|thumb|The "Bardi Dossal" in the Bardi Chapel of [Santa Croce, Florence](/source/Santa_Croce%2C_Florence). This is usually so called, but is an [altarpiece](/source/altarpiece) and might also be called a [retable](/source/retable) or [reredos](/source/reredos). The shelf it rises from is a [gradine](/source/Shelf_(storage)).]] [[File:Weston BlessedVirginMary altar.JPG|thumb|Dossal curtain, below a painted altarpiece, [Weston-on-the-Green](/source/Weston-on-the-Green), Oxfordshire]] [[File:Master Of Saint Gilles - The Mass of St Gilles - WGA14485.jpg|thumb|Green riddel curtains, with a metalwork dossal, in the ''Mass of St Gilles'' by the [Master of Saint Giles](/source/Master_of_Saint_Giles)]] A '''dossal''' (or '''dossel''', '''dorsel''', '''dosel'''), from [French](/source/French_language) ''dos'' (''back''), is one of a number of terms for something rising from the back of a church [altar](/source/altar). In modern usage, it primarily refers to cloth hangingsGuild but it can also denote a board, often carved or containing a painting, that rises vertically from the back of the altar and to which the cloth is attached.[https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/glossary/dossal "Dossal" in National Gallery Glossary] [Retable](/source/Retable) and [reredos](/source/reredos) are alternative terms for solid structures, as is [altarpiece](/source/altarpiece), all of them rather more commonly used today. ''Dossal'' remains the usual term for an ornamental cloth suspended behind an altar,Guild; {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Dossal|volume=8|page=438}} probably attached to the wall behind. This is often called a '''dossal curtain''', and '''altar screen''' is also sometimes used as a synonym for a cloth dossal,{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Altar Screen}} as well as, more dubiously, for wood or stone screens in various locations in the sanctuary. Curtains at the side of an altar may be called [riddels](/source/Ciborium_(architecture)); these may be suspended between riddel posts at the corners of the altar. More rarely, a cloth dossal may continue as a horizontal "tester" hanging immediately over the altar, giving the [cloth of honour](/source/cloth_of_honour) configuration typical for enthroned monarchs and others in the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages), and often seen in medieval and Renaissance paintings of the [Virgin Mary](/source/Virgin_Mary) in particular.Guild "Dossal" may also be used for a secular vertical cloth of honour, or the vertical part of one. A refinement of the definition of a painted dossal is that it could be easily detached and fitted between poles (or some similar arrangement), and was carried in processions on particular feast-days. This definition is especially found relating to medieval Italy, and the [Franciscans](/source/Franciscans), who are thought to have begun this practice, commissioning [Berlinghiero Berlinghieri](/source/Berlinghiero_Berlinghieri) soon after St Francis' canonization in 1228. The Bardi Dossal illustrated is such a piece, typical in that it shows a saint, here Saint [Francis of Assisi](/source/Francis_of_Assisi), as the main image, surrounded by scenes from his life.Szakolczai, Arpad, ''Sociology, Religion and Grace'', pp. 94-95, 2007, {{ISBN|1134194501}}, 9781134194506, [https://books.google.com/books?id=pEh_AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 google books]Franco, Bradley R., "The Functions of Early Franciscan Art", in ''The World of St. Francis of Assisi: Essays in Honor of William R. Cook'', eds. Bradley Franco, Beth Mulvaney, 2015, BRILL, {{ISBN|9004290281}}, 9789004290280, [https://books.google.com/books?id=GlPoBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 google books] In a larger altarpiece, these would be [predella](/source/predella) scenes running below the main painting. However, dossal is used of some large [polyptych](/source/polyptych)s which could not be taken on procession in this way. In [academic art](/source/academic_art) history, "dossal" is today only likely to be used for such paintings, or the textiles.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} Cloth dossals rarely achieve much individual notability, but the "Lanercost Dossal" at [Lanercost Priory](/source/Lanercost_Priory), [Cumbria](/source/Cumbria), was specially designed by [William Morris](/source/William_Morris) and embroidered by local ladies. It is 24 feet wide, in "[worsted](/source/worsted) wools on a felted ground".Alan Sykes, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2012/jun/14/arts-art "William Morris and his 'Cumbrian ladies' will be strumming their harps as their masterpiece is restored"], ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'', 14 June 2012 In 2012 it was removed for restoration, which was completed in 2014.[http://www.lanercostpriory.org.uk/priory/dossal.html ''The William Morris Lanercost Priory Dossal - History and Conservation''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417225934/http://lanercostpriory.org.uk/priory/dossal.html |date=2016-04-17 }} by Christine Boyce (27 pages). ==See also== * {{anl|Rood screen}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== *"Guild" = [https://web.archive.org/web/20160617203041/https://rhodeislandaltars.org/tag/dossal-and-riddel/ "Dossals, and Riddles and Testers"], The Altar Guild Resource for the Diocese of Rhode Island Category:Altars Category:Altarpieces --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dossal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dossal) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dossal?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.