Altarpiece

An artwork or ensemble placed behind or above a Christian altar. It may combine painting, sculpture, relief, and architectural framing in a fixed or movable structure.

Retable: A structure of painted or sculpted panels and architectural elements placed behind an altar. The term names the architectural framework that often gives an altarpiece its form.
Reredos: An ornamental screen or wall decoration behind an altar, often incorporating sculpture or painting. It is a close architectural counterpart to an altarpiece, sometimes overlapping with the term.
Early Christian art: The visual culture of Christian communities from the first centuries through late antiquity. Its sacred imagery and church settings precede the later emergence of elaborate altarpieces.
Ghent Altarpiece: A monumental, multi-panel painting by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, completed in 1432 for Saint Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent. Its panels and hinged wings exemplify the scale and complexity of a Northern Renaissance altarpiece.
Patronage: The financial and social support that enables artists and institutions to produce works of art. Donors’ resources and devotional aims determined an altarpiece’s materials, scale, and imagery.
Predella: A narrow painted or sculpted panel running along the base of an altarpiece. Its position below the main image makes it a distinct component of many altarpieces.
Tabernacle: A secure container in a church for the consecrated Eucharistic hosts. Its location on or near the altar affects the arrangement and use of the altarpiece.
Medieval art: Art produced in Europe and the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages. The altarpiece became a major church-art form within medieval artistic traditions.
Isenheim Altarpiece: A multi-panel altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald and Niclaus of Haguenau, made around 1512–1516 for an Alsatian hospital monastery. Its changing views connected Christ’s suffering with the healing mission of its original setting.
Guild: An association of craftspeople or merchants that regulated work and training in a town or trade. Guilds organized the painters, sculptors, and specialists who made many altarpieces.

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