Supporting altar
Adelhausen portable altar, letztes Drittel 8. Jahrhundert
About the object
Portable altars were used to celebrate Holy Mass on journeys or during military campaigns. The Adelhausen specimen is one of the very oldest extant portable altars. The name derives from the former Adelhausen Dominican monastery, where the altar is first known to have been kept c.1900. The valuable materials and the high standard of the artistry would suggest that it was owned by a member of the elite from the Carolingian period.