altarpieces
Behind communion table
Altarpieces are works of art—paintings, sculptures, or carved panels—placed behind or above the altar in a church.
They typically depict religious scenes: the crucifixion, the Madonna and child, or the lives of saints.
Renaissance altarpieces often featured multiple hinged panels (triptychs or polyptychs) that could be opened for special occasions: The church's medieval altarpiece was restored after centuries of neglect.
Art in three panels
- polyptychMulti-panel hinged artwork
- diptychHinged two-part artwork
- retableAltar's decorative backdrop
- MadonnaChrist's mother, or pop icon
crucifixion · Annunciation · saints · devotion · veneration · liturgy · consecration · sanctuary
East Flanders provincial seat
- Van EyckArnolfini portrait artist
- BelliniItalian artistic dynasty name
- RaphaelRenaissance painter from Urbino
- temperaEgg-yolk painting method
oil painting · gilding · gold leaf · woodcarving · gesso · pigments · glazing · restoration
Public exhibit space
- collectionGathered set of items
- provenanceRecord of ownership
- theftUnlawful taking of property
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
looting · Nazi · dispersed · fragments · surviving · documented · inventory · cathedral
triptych
Art in three panels
Madonna · crucifixion · Annunciation · saints · devotion · veneration · liturgy · consecration · sanctuary · chancel
Ghent
East Flanders provincial seat
- Van EyckArnolfini portrait artist
- BelliniItalian artistic dynasty name
- RaphaelRenaissance painter from Urbino
tempera · oil painting · gilding · gold leaf · woodcarving · gesso · pigments · glazing · restoration · conservation
museum
Public exhibit space
- collectionGathered set of items
- provenanceRecord of ownership
- theftUnlawful taking of property
repatriation · looting · Nazi · dispersed · fragments · surviving · documented · inventory · cathedral · chapel
hinged
Connected by pivot joint
carved · painted · sculptural · framing · pinnacles · finials · canopy · tracery · shutters · open position
- RenaissanceLeonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Mona Lisa
- medieval sculpturetympanum, archivolt, relief carvings, stone carving, capitals
- visual artdrawing, fine art, painting, portrait, sketch
- art museumpaintings, old masters, exhibition, drawings, permanent collection
- art museumspaintings, The Louvre, galleries, permanent collection, exhibitions
- BelgiumBrussels, Belgium, Flanders, Antwerp, Bruges
- Ghent AltarpieceMedieval polyptych in Belgium