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[[Image:14HeiligenGnadenaltar.jpg|thumb|right|Engraving of the ''Gnadenaltar'' in the ''Vierzehnheiligen Basilica'', [[Bad Staffelstein]], [[Bavaria]].  This altar has a baldachin.]]
A '''baldachin''', or '''baldaquin''' (from {{lang-it|baldacchino}}), is a '''canopy of state''' over an [[altar]] or [[throne]]. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy,<ref>''Baldac'' is a medieval Latin form for [[Baghdad]], whence fine silks reached Europe.</ref> but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent [[Architecture|architectural]] feature, particularly over [[Altar|high altars]] in [[cathedral]]s, where such a structure may be called a ''[[Ciborium (architecture)|ciborium]]'' when it is sufficiently architectural in form.  A '''cloth of honour''' is a simpler cloth hanging vertically behind the throne, which may be combined with a canopy.

In the Middle Ages, a hieratic canopy of state or '''cloth of state''' was hung over the seat of a personage of sufficient standing, as a symbol of authority. The seat under such a canopy of state would normally be raised on a [[dais]]. Emperors and kings, reigning dukes and bishops were accorded this honour. In a 15th-century manuscript illumination the sovereign Grand Master of the [[Knights Hospitaller]] in Rhodes sits in state to receive a presentation copy of the author's book. His seat is raised on a carpet-covered dais and backed with a richly embroidered ''dosser'' (French, ''"dos"''). Under his feet is a cushion, such as protected the feet of the King of France when he presided at a ''[[lit de justice]]''.  The King of France was also covered by a mobile canopy during his Coronation, held up on poles by several [[Peerage of France|Peer]]s of France.

[[Lady Margaret Beaufort|Margaret Beaufort]], mother of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] was a personage of such importance that in her portrait by an anonymous artist, c. 1500  she prays under a canopy of estate; one can see the dosser against the gilded leather wall-covering and the tester above her head (the Tudor rose at its center) supported on cords from the ceiling. The coats-of-arms woven into the tapestry are of England (parted as usual with France) and the portcullis badge of the Beauforts.

In the summer of 1520, a meeting was staged between [[Francis I of France]] and [[Henry VIII of England]], where the ostentatious display of wealth and power earned the meeting-place the name of [[Field of Cloth of Gold|''The Field of Cloth of Gold'']]. Every detail of protocol and ceremony was I felt
The canopy of estate may still be seen in some formal [[throne room]]s.

==State bed==
The state bed, intended for receiving important visitors and producing heirs before a select public, but not intended for sleeping in,<ref>Peter K. Thornton, ''Authentic Decor: the Domestic Interior 1620-1920,'' (London, 1985) and ''Seventeenth-Century Interior Decoration in England, France and Holland,''
(New Haven & London, 1981).</ref> evolved during the second half of the seventeenth century, developing the medieval tradition of receiving visitors in the bedroom, which had become the last and most private room of the standard suite of rooms in a Baroque apartment. [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] developed the rituals of receptions in his state bedchamber, the ''petit levée'' to which only a handful of his court élite might expect to be invited. The other monarchs of Europe soon imitated his practice; even his staunchest enemy, [[William III of England]] had his "grooms of the bedchamber", a signal honour. 

The state bed, a ''lit à la Duchesse''&mdash;its canopy supported without visible posts&mdash;  was delivered for the use of Queen [[Maria Leszczyńska|Marie Leszczinska]] at [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]], as the centrepiece of a new decor realized for the Queen in 1730&ndash;35.<ref>The hangings were rewoven for Marie Antoinette. The present hangings, made at Lyon by the same firm that delivered the originals, replicate the hangings as they were in 1787.</ref> Its tester is quickly recognizable as a baldachin, serving its time-honoured function; the bedding might easily be replaced by a gilded throne. The queens of France spent a great deal of time in their ''chambre'', where they received the ladies of the court at the morning ''levée'' and granted private audiences. By the time Marie Antoinette escaped the mob from this bedroom, such state beds, with the elaborate [[etiquette]] they embodied, were already falling out of use. A state bed with a domed tester designed in 1775-76 by [[Robert Adam]] for Lady Child at [[Osterley Park]]<ref>Of this grandiose bed [[Horace Walpole]] asked in a private letter "what would [[Vitruvius]] think of a [[dome]] decorated by a milliner?"</ref> and another domed state bed, delivered by [[Thomas Chippendale]] for Sir Edwin Lascelles at [[Harewood House]], Yorkshire in 1773 <ref>Annabel Westman and Aasha Tyrrell, "The Restoration of the Harewood State Bed" ([http://www.harewood.org/chippendale/archives/restorers-account.htm on-line])</ref> are two of the last English state beds intended for a main floor State Bedroom in a non-royal residence.
==St. Peter's Basilica==
{{main|St. Peter's baldachin}}
[[Pope Urban VIII]] commissioned [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] to design and construct a structure that would be placed over the tomb of St. Peter during the building of the new [[St. Peter's Basilica]] (located in Rome). 

Bernini's design for the Baldachin incorporated giant [[solomonic columns]] inspired by columns that ringed the altar of the Old St. Peter's.  These columns were originally donated by [[Constantine I|Constantine]] and a false tradition asserts they are the columns from the [[Temple of Jerusalem]]; however, the columns are probably from a church in Byzantium. The lowest parts of the four columns of Bernini's Baldachin have a helical groove, and the middle and upper sections of the columns are covered in olive and bay branches, which are populated with a myriad of bees and small putti. Pope Urban VIII's family coat of arms, those of the [[Barberini]] family, with their signature bees, are at the base of every column. 

All of these were combined to create an upward feeling of movement.

==Processional canopy==

A baldachin may also be used in formal processions, including [[Royal entries]], [[coronation]] or funeral processions, to [[Status symbol|signify the elite status]] of the individual it covers. The origins of such an emblematic use in Europe lay in the courts of the [[Neo-Assyrian]] state, adopted in [[Athens]] perhaps as early as the late seventh century, but relegated to the use of women by the late fifth century (compare [[parasol]]).<ref>M. C. Miller, "The Parasol: An Oriental Status-Symbol in Late Archaic and Classical Athens
# " ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', '''112''' (1992:91-105). </ref>

Such canopies might be made of anything from muslin to heavy brocade, or even constructed of less flexible materials, and are supported by poles, whether affixed to a carriage, or carried by people walking on each side. An Egyptian Pharaoh, for example, was escorted both in life and in death by such a canopy of estate.

==Surname Baldacchino==

The surname Baldacchino comes from the artisans who used to make the Baldachin.  The surname is found mainly in the islands of Malta and Siciliy (particularly in Agrigento and Naro). 

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Knights hospitaller.JPG|The Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller at Rhodes under a canopy of estate, on a dais: there is a cushion under his feet.
Image:Margaretbeaufort.jpg|[[Lady Margaret Beaufort|Margaret Beaufort]], Queen Mother, at prayer, by an anonymous  artist, about 1500.
Image:Versailles Queen's Chamber.jpg|At [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]], the ''Chambre de la Reine'' features the centrally-placed state bed delivered for Queen [[Maria Leszczyńska|Maria Leszczinska]].
Image:Taddeo Zuccari 003.jpg|King [[Francis I of France]], [[Holy Roman Emperor Charles V|Charles V]], and [[Cardinal Alessandro Farnese]]
Image:Bedroom of the emperor.jpg|A baldachin in [[Empire (style)|Empire style]] simply adds visual importance to a [[daybed]].
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Ciborium (architecture)|Ciborium]]
*[[Tapestry]]

==External links==
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9011928 1911 Britannica article]
* [http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/CadresFenetre?O=COMP-6&I=2&M=imageseule Burgundian example], [[King René's Tournament Book]], [[BnF]]
* {{CathEncy|title=Baldachium of the Altar|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02217c.htm}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{commonscat|Cloth of state}}
[[Category:Architectural elements]]
[[Category:Interior design]]
[[Category:Textiles]]

[[ca:Baldaquí]]
[[de:Baldachin]]
[[es:Baldaquino]]
[[eo:Baldakeno]]
[[eu:Baldakin]]
[[fr:Baldaquin]]
[[gl:Baldaquino]]
[[io:Baldakino]]
[[it:Baldacchino]]
[[lt:Baldakimas]]
[[li:Hemel (baldakien)]]
[[nl:Baldakijn]]
[[no:Baldakin]]
[[pl:Baldachim]]
[[pt:Baldaquino (dossel)]]
[[ru:Балдахин]]
[[sk:Baldachýn]]
[[fi:Baldakiini]]
[[sv:Baldakin]]
[[th:พิดานศักดิ์]]
[[uk:Балдахін]]
[[Category:2Fix]]