Framing the Narratives: The Decoration of the Borders and Latticework of the Golden Altars

Gilded copper plates featuring narrative scenes and single figures constitute the main elements of the golden altars, and they have been the subject of much attention over the years. No less important to the experience of an altar and its composition, albeit more neglected in the literature, are the frames, borders and latticework that surrounded and formed the background of the narratives and figures. Although damaged and incomplete, the frames and borders were originally richly decorated with gilded and brown varnished, engraved and embossed copper plates, which feature numerous motifs and bands of inscription, the latter conveying messages of their own and often closely associated with specific scenes and figures. The remainder of the borders and images may at first glance look like pure decoration, but on some of the altars independent meanings and narratives can be made out behind the design and decoration of the framework. The motifs can hardly have been chosen at random; nor was their placement on the frontals and retables accidental. Similar motifs can be seen in Romanesque stone sculptures, on fonts and church buildings , as well as in frescoes and other forms of decorated objects from church interiors, including reliquaries, book covers and the vasa sacra used in the service. They are also found on a much smaller scale on some of the metal jewellery of the time, a group of objects that has seen a dramatic increase in recent decades. The jewellery supplements the altars and church decoration, and provides an insight into the general development of style and fashion, and especially into how the Christian message and world view, which was communicated by the Church, gradually became an integrated part of everyday life.