altarpiece

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A painting (more rarely a sculpture) placed on, behind, or above an altar in a Christian church. Altarpieces vary greatly in size, construction, and number of images (diptych, triptych, and polyptych). Some are small and portable; some (known as a retable or reredos – there is no clear distinction) are fixed.

A typical Italian altarpiece has a large central panel, flanked by subsidiary panels, with a predella, or strip of scenes, across the bottom. Spanish altarpieces tend to be architecturally elaborate retables. A popular form in northern Europe was the winged altarpiece, in which outer wings are hinged so that they can be closed to cover the centre panel; the backs of the panels are usually painted in a less elaborate fashion.

Outstanding altarpieces include Duccio's Maestà (1308–11, Cathedral Museum, Siena), Mathias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece (c. 1515, Unterlinden Museum, Colmar), and Jan van Eyck's Adoration of the Lamb (1432, St Bavon, Ghent).

White was added to the flag to identify Bahrain as a friendly state. Red was the traditional colour of the Kharijite Sect. In 2002 the number of serrations were reduced to five, possibly representing the five pillars of Islam. Effective date: 19 August 1972. >>