1.nounA work of art suspended above and behind an altar in a church"I walked across the concrete to examine the altarpiece of the atomic age. A large crack ran through it. — Atomic John: A truck driver uncovers secrets about the first nuclear bombs, David Samuels December, The New Yorker, 15, 2008 http//www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/15/081215fa_fact_samuels?printable=true"