Baldachin

Description

> Camp takes styles from the past and uses them to sidestep the onward march of history. The historical process is reduced to the ephemeral. - Mark Booth, 1983 A baldachin is an ornamental canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne and usually supported on columns, or asimilar form over a tomb or throne. In the Middle Ages, a hieratic canopy of state (or "estate"), cloth of honour, or cloth of state was hung above the seat of a personage of sufficient standing, as a symbol of authority.