winged altarpiece, stalls, tabernacle
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A late Gothic form of altarpiece, widespread to the north of the Alps, which probably evolved in the second half of the 14th century from decorated sacristy cases that contained figural reliquiaries. Its main parts are the predella (base), the altar case, the wings, and the crowning ornaments. The wings were opened only during the high mass, but not during Lent. There were altars also with two sets of wings, and occassionally the outer wings of these were immovable. In the first half of the 16th century winged altarpieces were made also in the Renaissance style.
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stalls
The combination of a prayer stand, a ledge for kneeling and bench in the choir of the church. Stalls were placed parallel with he axis of the church, and their end was arranged in an L-shape at the back wall of the chancel. In Italy the antique type of arrangement was quite general, where the stalls were set up behind the altar, and followed the curve of the apsis on both sides of the episcopal throne in the centre. During long ceremonies clerics and monks who were praying in the choir could lean on the corbels (misericordia) at the bottom of the turned up seats and on the wide arm-rests in a half-sitting position (the Latin expression refers to this), or they could sit when the seats were lowered. Prayer books could be placed on the shelf in front of the bench, and the ledge for kneeling was also there. For larger choirs there were more rows of stalls.
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tabernacle
A niche or a structure in churches for the storage of the sacrament. Tabernacles came into use during the 14th century as simple niches in the side wall of the chancel. The tower shaped Late Gothic tabernacles that stand on a pillar independently, spread in the 15th century. The Renaissance tabernacles resembled niches, framed by pilasters, and crowned by an entablature and a lunette. The more modest ones were supported by corbels, while the sophisticated pieces reached all the way down to the ground. Already in the 15th century some tabernacles were inserted into the altarpieces, but this practice did not become usual until the 17th century. The Latin word tabernacle (tent) refers to the baldachin form of the Baroque tabernacles.
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