altarpiece

From altar +‎ piece.

• enPR: äl′-tər-pēs′
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑl.təɹˌpis/

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• enPR: ăl′-tər-pēs′
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.təɹˌpis/

altarpiece (plural altarpieces)

1. a work of art suspended above and behind an altar in a church
   • 2008 December 15, David Samuels, “Atomic John: A truck driver uncovers secrets about the first nuclear bombs”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], archived from the original on 12 March 2015:

     I walked across the concrete to examine the altarpiece of the atomic age. A large crack ran through it.

   • 2025 May 7, Nina Siegal, “A Rarely Seen Angel With a Lesson From History”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 8 May 2025:

     “It’s this snaggletoothed, little bird-footed homunculus caricature,” Bourneuf said. “Many artists at this time were trying to make new altarpieces. Klee tended to take a very skeptical distance from the sort of grandiose projects of many of his expressionist peers, so I think it’s actually kind of mocking those hopes.”