Baldacchini were standard in early Christian churches in Rome and were later mandated in the principal Counter-Reformation statement of liturgical practice, according to Steven Semes of the “Journal of the Institute of Sacred Architecture.” Many churches today still feature some form of the baldacchino. There is a wooden tester or ciborium at St. James Church in Falls Church. (The word “ciborium” is used also as the name for the container that holds the Eucharist.)
