Gothic And Renaissance Altarpieces

In the mid-15th century, when the tradition styles and techniques of the Middle Ages were yielding to the new influences of the Renaissance, the altarpieces of cathedrals and major churches reached a degree of elaboration never seen before. For a century or so altarpieces had been constructed so that they could be closed or open (for saints' days and festivals), often in three parts (triptychs), with two wings folding over the centre. This scheme was now expanded: panels were arranged sometimes in two tiers which could open separately. The three-part stucture could grow to five and even seven. In the most extreme case, Grunewald's Isenheim Altarpiece, there was an unprecedented number of possibilities - a sort of theological hierarchy, with panels opening to reveal deeper and deeper mysteries.

"Alas, few of the great polyptychs, wonderful as they are, survive in their original form or place of installation, having suffered the vicissitudes of history, as the authors explain in detail, particularly the misadventures that followed upon the secularization laws promulgated by Napoleon in the late 18th century. Along with this story and countless others comes the extended series of full-color illustrations, over 400 in all, many of them full-page and full-bleed.

"The color photographs, specially commissioned for this project, are an essential feature of the book. Each altarpiece is illustrated in its entirety, with its wings both opened and closed, and in close-up views of its most important carvings and paintings - details that are not available to the average visitor to these sites."--BOOK JACKET.

Since the 1960s, the Italian altarpiece has attracted unprecedented scholarly attention, bringing artistic, liturgical, social and technical considerations to bear on the subject. The eight contributors to this book provide an impressive synopsis of the different approaches developed in order to enlarge and deepen our knowledge of paintings in terms of their historical functions. Patronage, morphology, religious meaning, pictorial composition, reception, and original setting are all discussed. In several cases, new light is shed on paintings that until a few years ago were dealt with only as elements within a history of style. In nearly all the contributions there is an overwhelming concern with reconstruction, and much new material is presented concerning the historical significance of a specific category of painting. This volume is the result of an international symposium held in June 1988 at the Harvard University for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti in Florence.

TABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTIONFORMINTRODUCTION Status quaestionis The morphology of the medieval retable in western Europe The retable: definition and origins The panel retable The winged retable THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MEDIEVALRETABLE IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA The ancestry of the Iberian retable (600-1200)The decoration of the mensa and stipes Ciboria and baldachins Reliquaries combined with altars Objects above and on the mensa Wall and vault paintings SummaryRomanesque altar retables (1000-1250) The oldest known retables SummaryThe retable under French influence (1250-1400) Painted retables Carved retables SummaryThe painted retable under Italian influence (1330-1400) Contacts with Tuscany Catalonia Other parts of Spain SummarySculptured retables in Catalonia (1325-1430) Stone retables in ltalo-Gothic style The Lleida SchoolInternational Gothic SummaryInternational Gothic in retable painting (1380-1450) Catalonia Valencia, Mallorca, Aragon and Navarre Castile SummaryThe import of retables from northern Europe (1390-1520) English alabasters Triptychs from the Southern Netherlands Foreign sculpture, Spanish structure SummaryPainted retables in the Spanish-Flemish style (1430-1510) Catalonia, Valencia and Aragon Castile and Navarre Portugal Summary Sculptured wall retables in the Late Gothic style (1470-1530) Cathedrals Other churches Summary The transition to the Renaissance retable (1490-1530) Painted retables Sculptured retables Summary Relationships to other traditions and genres (1470-1540) Relationships to other traditionsRelationships to other genres SUMMARY THE MEDIEVAL CHOIR IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA:FORM AND LOCATION General characteristics The form of the choir Choir stalls Choir partitions The location of the choir The Romanesque coro in Santiago de Compostela The church of St James and its choir Reasons for the nave location Possible antecedents Gothic nave choirs Monastic churches From mosques to cathedrals Other cathedrals Collegiate and parish churches Exceptions that prove the rule The exceptions Burgos and León The coro alto Monastic churches Secular churches Possible antecedents Summary BETWEEN THE TWO CHOIRS: THE CROSSING AS ACROSSROADS OF ACTIVITY Between the two choirs The crossing as a place for preachingThe high altar visible for both clergy and laity CONSEQUENCES FOR THE RETABLE II. ENVIRONMENT III. MESSAGE INTRODUCTION Word and image in the medieval church interiorThe main features of medieval retable iconography in western Europe INTRODUCTION Status quaestionis The choir in the medieval church interior of western Europe The Office The location of the choir in the church interior Consequences for the use of the church ICONOGRAPHY OF THE MEDIEVAL RETABLE IN THEIBERIAN PENINSULAGeneral tendencies The Eucharistic message The hagiographical message The narrative messageTHE RETABLE IN ITS RELIGIOUS AND HISTORICCONTEXT Backcloth to the Mass From communal celebration to clerical spectacle Enrichment of the ritual and its decor Changing attitudes to the Sacrament Background to the sermon The development of the sermon References to retables in sermons Other uses of imagery by preachersDevotional image The individualisation of devotion Illustrated devotional literature The devotional book and the retable Prestige object The secularisation of the retable Private founding of high altar retables Retable rivalry Mirror of the Reconquest The Reconquest as a holy war From coexistence to Inquisition The Reconquest and the retable Expression of reform The 'Reform of the Catholic Monarchs' Correspondences with the retable Cardinal Cisneros, reformer and Maecenas SUMMARY GENERAL CONCLUSIONS BIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX OF PLACES AND PERSONSPLATES.

Christa Gardner von Teuffel's studies of Italian altarpieces have provided fundamental insights concerning the original structure and setting of some of the canonical monuments of Italian late medieval and Renaissance painting. Studies of panel type and frame architecture are combined with an investigation of original sites. Archival discoveries at Florence and Palermo have led to a new assessment of institutional patronage and private benefaction, and illuminated the formulation of altarpiece programmes, such as Perugino's Vallombrosan Assumption and Raphael's Lo Spasimo. These essays contribute enduringly to our understanding of contractual obligation, design process and altarpiece installation, and demonstrate the nexus between ecclesiastical and lay patrons, artists and congregations. The author's pioneering examination of Carmelite patronage and subsequent investigation of the iconographical impact of Benedictine and Franciscan reform movements have prompted others to re-assess the patronage of religious Orders in the Quattrocento. The pervasive iconographical influence of the Holy Land is traced through Sansepolcro, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme at Rome and as far as the astonishing View of Sinai by El Greco.