reredos

1. (chiefly Western Christianity) A screen or decoration behind the altar in a church, usually depicting religious iconography or images, akin to the iconostasis of the Eastern Churches.Examples: "A bad reredos will ruin the best church ever designed; and, although a good reredos cannot convert a bad church into a good one, it may do much to lessen the offensiveness of its badness."; "Confusion has reigned in scholarly interpretation, however, because the dark-colored leaves have shown through the succeeding coats of paint across the reredos, interfering with the later scenes."; "There seem to be no remains of wooden reredoses of the fourteenth century, though there are a number of examples in stone."Synonyms: retable