An altarpiece is a painted or carved work of art placed on or behind the altar of a church, depicting religious subjects such as the Virgin and Child, the Crucifixion or the lives of saints. It serves as a devotional focus for worship and often forms the most important artwork in a church or chapel.
Altarpieces flourished in medieval and Renaissance Europe, ranging from single painted panels to elaborate multi-part works. Triptychs and polyptychs, with hinged side wings that could be opened on feast days, were common in Italy, Flanders and Germany, while carved and gilded wooden altarpieces were a speciality of northern European workshops. The predella, a strip of smaller scenes along the base, often illustrated the lives of saints. Many altarpieces were dismantled in later centuries, particularly after the Reformation and during periods of upheaval, and individual panels entered private and museum collections. Collectors of religious art seek fragments, small domestic altarpieces and later devotional works, valuing artistic quality, condition, iconography and provenance. Panels should be examined for wood movement, overpainting and old restoration, and specialist advice is advisable given the importance of attribution.
