Altar Front

c. 540–600

Altar Front, c. 540–600. Early Byzantium, Constantinople or Ravenna, Byzantine period, 6th century. Marble; overall: 101 x 169.5 x 25.5 cm (39 3/4 x 66 3/4 x 10 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1948.25 This marble altar was likely in a Byzantine church that was opulently decorated with mosaics, rich textiles, and gilded lamps. Worshipers would have witnessed the rituals of faith that occurred at the altar, enshrined behind a barrier called a templon, and accessible only to the clergy.