Altarpieces

thumb|330px|Triptych of the The Elevation of the Cross (Rubens)|Raising of the Cross, Rubens, 1610–11, Antwerp Cathedral A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works. The middle panel is typically the largest and flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels. The form can also be used for pendant jewelry.

fresco by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel

subject of two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci

thumb|Ivory consular diptych of Areobindus, [[Byzantium, 506 AD, Louvre]] thumbnail|Wax tablet and a Roman [[stylus]] thumb|Barberini Ivory, [[Constantinople, 6th century, Louvre]]

Polyptych by Jan van Eyck and Hubert van Eyck

painting by Leonardo da Vinci

thumb|A simple shelf retable in Yorkshire thumb|On one strict definition, this French 17th-century construction is a retable rather than a reredos, as it is all one construction

thumb|300px|The Ghent Altarpiece (1432) by Hubert and [[Jan van Eyck, with its wings open. Considered one of the masterpieces of Early Netherlandish painting, a complex polyptych panel winged altarpiece, which lost its elaborate framework in the Reformation.]] An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, or a set of them, the word can also be used of the whole ensemble behind an altar, otherwise

painting by Rogier van der Weyden in the Museo del Prado

painting by Titian in Venice

thumb|300px|Opened view of the Ghent Altarpiece: [[Jan van Eyck (1432). There is a different view when the wings are closed.]] thumb|The closed view, back panels.

thumb|Altarpiece by [[Carlo Crivelli, 1468. The predella has four scenes from the Passion of Christ. The predella runs along the base, framed below]] thumb|Altarpiece with carved and painted predella at Marienkirche [[Stralsund, Germany.]] In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but often (especially in earlier examples), a polyptych or multipanel altarpiece. In late medieval and Renaissance altarpie

painting by Sandro Botticelli in the Uffizi

painting by Raphael

Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald (paintings) and Nikolaus Hagenauer (sculptures)

painting by Raphael

painting by Caravaggio

largest Gothic altarpiece, national treasure of Poland

painting by Raphael

painting by Caravaggio

painting by El Greco at the Toledo Cathedral

painting by Albrecht Dürer in the Uffizi

painting by Titian

fresco by Masaccio

painting by Piero della Francesca in the Pinacoteca di Brera

two sided altarpiece by Duccio for Siena Cathedral, dismembered and partially lost

painting by Raphael

painting by Carlo Crivelli

painting by Rogier van der Weyden

Altarpiece by Giorgione

painting by Raphael,, Alte Pinakothek Munic

painting by Gentile da Fabriano

late Gothic altarpiece in Austria

painting by an unknown artist

form of altarpiece

altar in the Basilica di San Marco, Venice

painting by Caspar David Friedrich at the Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden

painting by Caravaggio

altarpiece by Fra Angelico, Museo del Prado

unfinished painting attributed to Michelangelo in the National Gallery, London

painting by Giovanni Bellini

painting by Giovanni Bellini in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

painting by Raphael, some fragments of which are held by various museums

painting by Albrecht Dürer, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

painting by Raphael

oil-on-oak altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden

altarpiece by Peter Paul Rubens in the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp

painting by Giambattista Tiepolo in Madrid

painting by Gentile da Fabriano, Pinacoteca di Brera

painting by Raphael

painting by Parmigianino

painting by Fra Angelico

painting in the Museum of San Marco, Florence, Italy, by Fra Angelico

painting by El Greco

thumb|300px|right|Reredos depicting the Immaculate Conception. Portuguese, 17th century. Santarém, Portugal

5-panels: Gathering of manna (upper right panel), Elijah awakened by the angel (1 Kings 19:5-6) (lower right panel), Last supper (central panel), Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek (upper left panel), Feast of Passover (lower left panel)

painting by Peter Paul Rubens, Alte Pinakothek Munic

painting by Bronzino

painting by Fra Angelico and Lorenzo di Credi

painting by El Greco