Retable and Frontal of the Life of Christ and the Virgin

1396

This ensemble comprises a retable, which was set up behind the altar table, and a frontal, which decorated the table's front. The work is a testament to the piety of Pedro López de Ayala, a major figure in the political and cultural life of late medieval Spain. For more than 500 years, it decorated his family's funerary chapel in their fortified palace in northern Spain.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Spanish

Date

1396

Medium

Tempera and gold on panel

Dimensions

Retable: 257 × 669.9 cm (99 3/4 × 263 3/4 in.); Frontal: 116.3 × 290.9 cm (45 3/4 × 114 1/2 in.)

Origin

Spain

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Gift of Charles Deering