This collection of essays (eleven in English, three in French) contributed by fourteen scholars of art history and Christian liturgy from eight countries is focused on the development of altarpieces/retables in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, as explored at a 2006 symposium in Gröningen, Germany. Findings are derived from physical remains and records of creation and use, and reveal affinities and diversities across scattered European sites, while providing bases for further study of a previously under-explored but prominent type of late medieval decoration.

In their introduction, editors Justin E. A. Kroesen and Victor M. Schmidt emphasize the importance of the liturgical and devotional functions of these works and the necessity for considering their aesthetic aspects in light of ritual and their pointed elaboration of the most basic Christian liturgical focus on the altar. They see the altarpiece as emerging after centuries of multifarious physical enhancements to Christian expression including sumptuous textiles, canopies, reliquaries, and other metal- and wood-works, often in rich ensembles, albeit with a conglomerated assemblage approach to decoration. Unlike some liturgical accoutrements, retables were not subject to authoritative definition for form, placement, or use, although most share general similarities in design and inspiration, with two main types in greatest evidence during this era—the fixed polyptych and the winged altarpiece—both evolving to incorporate features of related forms such as dossals and shrines. This group of studies reveals affinities among those from disparate regions not previously examined in comparison with one another. Among the richest sources of evidence are the Scandinavian works, often less subject to the vicissitudes of time and refurbishment than those of other regions. This has sometimes led to supportable conjecture about previous states of décor in other regions, notably in those where more remains of context than of the actual retables, which have disappeared through ensuing renewal efforts, especially in areas where lively expression of faith and devotion surely led to periodic renovations. Further confounding scholarly investigations are the shifting collections of embellishments used for diverse feast days and other occasions, with certain favored elements seeing more consistent use or even becoming permanent fixtures. Altarpieces were sometimes seen to reflect the favored forms, as well as to dramatically demonstrate interest in visual adornment, despite virtual silence of canon law on such matters. There were, however, monastic guidelines, and some of the local ordinals often gave specific stipulations in this regard, which clarified the situation in those instances.

Michelle Basci mines commemorative and petitionary features like niches, aediculae, and chapels in Cyprus as well as written documentation to discern the competition for income from prayer and Mass requests that influenced some decoration. However, redecorations and conversion to mosque forms at some sites obscured physical evidence of original contexts, rendering interpretation dubious, such as in the cases of vestigial niches and canopies where paintings or effigies have disappeared. Documents shed some light on previous use, but leave an incomplete understanding, further obscured by the mixing of eastern and western liturgical elements and cultural traits. In one of the most interesting essays, Paul Binski explores the English Gothic settings, where lay patronage led to various artistic expressions, which, in turn, proves that laws often responded to evolved cultic devotions, rather than directed their development. Of course, with so little surviving the Reformation, the archaeological problems in England are severe. Some types, however, were known to not be limited to sacred realms, spreading to royal and other honorific contexts, as exemplified by the thirteenth-century Westminster Retable, from which one can extrapolate other ideas about the high altar configuration and the trappings of the cult of St. Edward in that era.

Sible de Blaauw delves deeply into the traditions in Italy, showing the development of the ciborium-sheltered altar table by the year 500, and the ensuing constrictions placed on altarpiece development by the design of the canopy. This led to variant configurations of panels, many with added figures and hangings that may have been coordinated with the primary altar decoration. Consequently, the late medieval era in Italy saw a somewhat more extensive set of changes in coordinating forms, such as those seen in the rebuilds at the Lateran and San Marco in the fourteenth century. Andrea de Marchi traces the alterations over time in both frontals and dossals of both gilt and painted types in Italy, notably in Milan and Pistoia. Noting the spurning of lavish golden forms by the mendicant orders of the late medieval period, he states that they were more frequently seen in parish churches of the traditional orders. They were used for communal relic cults associated with political and religious symbolism, the most well-known exemplar being the Pala d’Oro in Venice. Again, alterations over time have obscured the original arrangements of many works, but the complexity of moving parts and wings for diverse occasions is noted as an evolutionary trend.

Francesca Español discusses the development of Aragónese tabernacle-retables in response to dicta on the lack of decorum in providing for the Eucharist, with iconographic and material variants in such forms as those at Vic, Gerona, and Cardona, which were made of alabaster, silver, and painted wood. In this region, noted for its monumental forms, the fourteenth-century versions were distinguished for emphasis on Eucharistic display, some with luxurious monstrances or dramatic veiling features coordinated with liturgical practices. The sculpted stone retables of St. Denis are explored by Fabienne Joubert in conjunction with such other contextual décor as the programs of pictorial windows, reliquaries, typological crosses, and other cult apparatus, all of which apparently evolved in interactive ways. Stephan Kemperdick notes certain stylistic connections between northern German altarpieces at such sites as Soest and Helmarshausen and some Danish and Norwegian versions, positing possible common models. Again, those designed for ceremonial concealing and revealing were mentioned, as well as those of mixed media in this period, although eventually painted panels throughout were the regional norm. Kroesen describes the side altar decorations at Gröningen, where adaptations of the St. Gall plan were used to accommodate the many requests for commemorative Masses for the dead. Disposition of pillars, side walls, and other architectural components often hampered use of retables, and ensuing renovations and removals for Lutheran usage have impeded investigation, but considerable information has been uncovered.

Pierre-Yves Le Pogam reports on the work at Carrières-sur-Seine with lively accounts of the 1838 discovery and eventual disposition at the Louvre, and the challenges in analyzing from time and place so far removed from original disposition. He examines the pros and cons of placement in the second quarter of the twelfth century, as well as its arguable use as a retable at such an early date, reviewing and refuting the many scholarly opinions on the work. The early development of two-spired retables was studied by Ebbe Nyborg through the vestiges which were later incorporated into more complex assemblages. Seeing them as reflective of the biblical notion of altar “horns” (Ezekiel 27, Luke 1), Nyborg carefully explores the faceted knobs, finials, and other sorts of termini seen on both wooden and metal works across Europe, proposing early formative stages in Nordic lands.

Schmidt scrutinizes painted altarpiece ensembles, finding that attempts to reconstruct original dispositions were often perplexing, but sometimes amenable to iconographic analysis for hints, particularly if documentation existed to shed further light. Using examples from many countries and contexts, he shows that the development of dorsals to supplant frontals was not straightforward, as they often continued to be used together, and that dating with regard to Lateran IV could also not yield certain results, as some scholars have sought to make its 1215 date the point of instigation for retables. Schmidt establishes that their development clearly started before that time, perhaps more as a response to the cultic penchant for display with their greater potential for expansion into space than the frontals that were limited by the size of the altar table. Peter Tångeborg examines Swedish works, still extant in more complete states and in greater numbers than elsewhere. These works are mostly tabernacle and niche forms, along with façade-like shrine screens, with or without wings, that simulate European forms, especially those from the Netherlands and Germany. They might even have been made there and then imported into Sweden, considering the many connections between Westphalia and Gotland. Many scholars note such cross-fertilization of ideas and forms even though, at the same time, they are confounded by the obscuring of strict lines of stylistic influence. Rosa Terés i Tomás reiterates the oversight of Lateran IV in the evolution of altarpiece forms, especially focusing on Catalonian stone works, which responded mostly to trends in decoration. Again she notes the continued use of frontals along with retables, of which many early examples were painted wood. Some of the dorsals seemed to have been adapted from frontals, although determination of the chronology and exact nature of changes was not always possible. In general we see the evolution from Romanesque to Gothic, similar to the way this occurred in France, reflected in works in metal, painted wood, and ivory, as well as manuscript motifs, and likely indicating complex interactive influences, as discussed by others in this collection. As noted in several of the studies, Terés i Tomás sees that there were often losses and lapses that considerably impede clear conclusions in study, notably in output from Catalonia, Languedoc, and northern France in the fourteenth century—the era of greatest development. Nonetheless, she is able to localize some known, named sculptors and to assess the innovative appearance of figures in frames or upon brackets, increasingly projecting from the flat surfaces, as regionally characteristic.

In the final essay, Louis van Tongeren explores the uses and functions of the altarpieces with regard to liturgical practices as conveyed in four of the ordinals of the Low Countries, especially the Utrecht and Maastricht regions. While explicit discussion of these dorsals is lacking, some of the libri ordinarii entries address altar decorations for specific rituals, even though they do not mention retables per se. He notes that the comments can likely be extrapolated to some extent to indicate general and traditional practices, while remarking on the differing needs for such events as processional or stational rites as opposed to regular Mass liturgies. Of note is the instruction for opening and closing specific panels at significant liturgical moments for dramatic effect. This offering caps the overall group of essays which, while they present an inconclusive picture of the evolutions of form and use, do provide considerable and rich insight, while laying some of the groundwork for further investigation, the sort of contribution always welcomed by the scholarly community.