Cantagloria, Also Known As An Altar Cannon, Carved Wood With Silver And Gold Plating "alla Mecca," Italy, 18th Century

A rare cantagloria, also known as an altar canon, made of silver-plated and gilded wood “alla mecca”—a gilding technique that, as with embossed leather, involves applying a yellow varnish over silver leaf. 

The technique was widely used in Italy during the 18th century, a period marked by a fondness for sumptuous liturgical and secular objects made of carved wood and/or stucco. 

There were generally three of these altar cannons: one large, central one and two smaller ones; arranged on the altar as their name suggests, they were important furnishings in a liturgy that had since been extensively reformed, and consequently fell into disuse beginning in the 19th century and were then completely forgotten after Vatican II. 

This is the central piece, which still bears the printed text of the *Sacrum Convivium* composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, glued directly onto the panel. Finding them intact is rare: few examples have survived in their original condition, as they were all too often converted into mirrors or picture frames by unscrupulous antique dealers and interior designers in the 20th century.