Guest Article by Michael Bursch, AIA
Throughout the history of the Church, theology has developed and norms have changed, and different styles of architecture have gone in and out of style. Yet throughout all this time, the use of altar canopies has continued. Although more popular in some periods than others, the altar canopy has been congruent with the theology and liturgical norms of every period of the Church.
The Patristic Period
From the earliest days of building churches, the altar canopy has had a prominent place over the altar. Despite a lack of primary documents explicating norms for liturgical architecture in this period, the Liber Pontificalis – a history of the popes and their pontificates from St. Peter to the 15th century – notes that Emperor Constantine donated such a structure to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome. The saintly Pope Sylvester I must certainly have condoned such a gift in his own cathedral; thus, his acceptance of such a gift shows that in the early life of the Church, the Eucharistic theology and liturgical norms encouraged the use of altar canopies. Indeed, canopies were used for the next several centuries, and examples of these early canopies can still be found in some of Italy’s most ancient churches..jpg) |
| Fig. 1: Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravena, 806-810 |
Although the reredos was preferred to the altar canopy in much of Europe during this period, altar canopies were still used during this era. Demonstrated by the way in which canopies continued to be built in Italy during this period, canopies remained fully concordant with the doctrine of the Church. Indeed, the Bishop of Mendes, William Durandus, penned the Rationale Divinorum Officiorum in 1286, a seminal work on medieval liturgy whose first book, The Symbolism of Churches and Church Ornaments, focused on the church building and its furnishings. Looking at the church through a symbolic and anthropomorphic lens, Durandus states, “the arrangement of a material church resembles that of the human body: the chancel, or place where the altar is, represents the head” (Durandus, The Symbolism of Churches and Church Ornaments, 1.14). Christ the King, head of the mystical body of the Church, is thus represented by the altar. Just as monarchs and kings of ages past sat beneath throne canopies, Christ the King as the altar finds an appropriate place below an altar canopy. By using Durandus’ analogy, a connection can be drawn between royal throne canopies and canopies over the altar.
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| Fig. 2: Royal throne canopy of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, 1000 |
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| Fig. 3: The Gothic ciborium in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome, 1365 |
The Renaissance
The Renaissance saw a resurgence in the humanities, rooted in a return to classical antiquity. A key figure in early Renaissance architecture was Fra. Leon Bautista Alberti, an Italian priest and “Renaissance Man.” His tome, De Re Aedificatoria, was a pivotal work in the history of architecture for its revival of the study of ancient Roman architecture. One chapter in this book addresses sacred buildings, where he states that he “would place the altar, however, in a place of majesty rather than of elegance” (VII.12) and that “when dealing with the [church] . . . the sacrificial altar is to be set up so as to give it the greatest dignity” (VII.13). Just as Durandus wrote in the Medieval period, Alberti in the Renaissance agreed that the altar is the most important place in the church with the greatest dignity and prominence. Thus, through scale, height, ornamentation, and materiality, altar canopies communicate the majesty and dignity of the altar to the devout congregation and casual viewers alike.
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| Fig. 4: The classical ciborium in Santi Bonifacio e Alessio, Rome, 16th century |
The Counter-Reformation and the Baroque
Another major inflection point in the life of the Church was the Council of Trent, following the Protestant Reformation. This Council brought about the Counter-Reformation and doubled down on Catholic doctrine, revivifying both the ars celebrandi (the art of proper celebration of the liturgy) as well as sacred art and architecture. Although the Council did not directly address elements of sacred design, St. Charles Borromeo, a key player in the Council, wrote a document outlining the design of churches for his diocese of Milan. These guidelines, Instructiones Fabricae et Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae, covered everything from the site of a church building down to the exact dimensions of altar steps. St. Charles was concerned with both practical and liturgical issues in his diocese and strove to solve both with his work. One of his many recommendations is that altars should “be protected by a baldachin [altar canopy]” (Book 1, Ch. 15). He wrote this because altar canopies serve both a practical and a liturgical purpose: not only do they protect the altar from dust and debris, but they also highlight the prominence of the altar as the site of the sacrifice of the Mass. St. Charles also described different types of canopies, continuing that “the baldachin, vaulted or of some other shape, or inlaid wood panels or decorously painted blue cloth, will be set on the columns,” or otherwise “will be suspended by iron chains attached to the ceiling or the wall” (Book 1, Ch. 15). These types and forms of altar canopies that he describes can still be found today. As one of the key reformers of the Council of Trent, St. Charles gave his stamp of approval and maintained that it is good practice for all altars to be covered by an altar canopy.
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| Fig. 5: The Baroque baldacchino-style ciborium in Saint-Bruno-les-Chartreux, Lyons, 18th century |
The Twentieth Century
As the Church approached the modern era, the use of altar canopies was still consistent with the liturgical norms and theological understandings of that period. Just prior to the Second Vatican Council, the placement of an altar canopy over an altar was still recommended. The 1958 Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described notes that “there should be some kind of canopy over the altar. This may hang from the roof of the church or project from a wall (a baldacchino or tester) or may stand on columns (a ciborium or a civory)” (27). This description of altar canopies is entirely congruent with that of St. Charles Borromeo some four hundred years prior and highlights the consistent way in which altar canopies have been used to emphasize the altar as the heart of the liturgy.
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| Fig. 6: The Gothic-Revival tester in the Lady Chapel of Downside Abbey, Somerset, UK, 1919-1926 |
Post-Vatican II
Finally, the Second Vatican Council and post-conciliar documents encourage the use of altar canopies in churches in the present day. In the often quoted line paraphrasing Lumen Gentium, the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that the “Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life,’” and it thus follows that the “altar is the natural focal point of the sanctuary” (Built of Living Stones, USCCB, 57). Altar canopies architecturally reinforce the altar as the focal point of the sanctuary, drawing the attention of participants in the Mass.
While the “Spirit of Vatican II” has been used to strip churches of beauty, color, ornament, iconography, and traditional furnishings, Sacrosanctum Concilium writes that “there is hardly any proper use of material things which cannot thus be directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God” (SC, 61). A close reading of the writings of the Second Vatican Council and those that follow reveal that the theology and norms explicated by the Council do indeed still harmonize with the use of altar canopies in churches today.
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| Fig. 7: The Baroque-inspired ciborium in the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, WI, 2008 |
Conclusion
All throughout the history of the Church, the altar canopy has had a place above the altar, which is the heart of Her sacrifice through Jesus Christ to God the Father. Although the appearance of church buildings has changed over time and the truths of the faith have continued to unfold, altar canopies, used from the early days of the Church, have been and continue to be beautiful ways in which to reflect the prominence of the altar and its centrality in the liturgy.
