Final answer:
The space beneath an altar designed to hold remains signifies the connection between the earthly and spiritual realms in Christianity. These areas are sacred spaces, represented in both architectural features of churches and in religious art and iconography.
Step-by-step explanation:
The space beneath an altar that holds the remains of those who have gone before us in faith is often associated with religious and spiritual practices, particularly in Christianity. These areas serve as final resting places for the deceased and are historically significant in the context of religious architecture and the beliefs concerning the afterlife and resurrection. In Christian art and iconography, such spaces, whether depicted as part of a catacomb or a symbolic representation of the afterlife, signify the connection between the earthly religious worship space and the spiritual realm where the faithful are believed to ascend.
These holy spaces are sometimes literal, as in the crypts beneath churches, or figurative, as seen in artistic depictions like those above the bema where clergy celebrate the Eucharist, or in the tympanum that artistically represents the judgment after the resurrection, with the blessed rising to join Christ in Paradise.