Altarpieces (Sacred Art and Iconography)

Large painted or carved works made to stand on or behind a Christian altar, usually with several panels that open and close, such as the Ghent Altarpiece and the Isenheim Altarpiece. An entry belongs here when the work was made as an altarpiece for liturgical use. It excludes single panel devotional paintings and wall paintings, which have their own groups. The group page sets related works side by side so that a reader can compare how a tradition, medium or period pictured its sacred subjects.