Both from the Spanish word retablo, meaning ‘tablet’, in reference to a frame for decorative panels at the back of analtar. Retables, which became widespread in Europe in the 14th century, most of all in Spain, can be richly decorated withpaintingorsculpture, and can include several compartments. There is also the similarreredos. Photo from Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark, New Jersey, 2019. (Encyclopedia, 2017)
