Devotion by Design: Italian Altarpieces before 1500

Event Name:	Devotion by Design: Italian Altarpieces before 1500
Description:	As part of a programme of summer shows focusing on the National Gallery’s collection, ‘Devotion by Design’ explores the function, the original location, and the development of altarpieces in Italy during the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. Altarpieces in context These objects furnished altars in churches and were not originally intended to hang in a gallery as we see them today. Instead, they were created for a specific sacred context, forming the focus of devotion for worshippers. Using the Gallery’s own collection, this exhibition investigates the development of altarpieces, looking at changes in form, style and type. It examines not only the evolution of their physical structure but also their relationship to their frames and to the monumental architecture that surrounded them. The parts of an altarpiece A small section of ‘Devotion by Design’ will be dedicated to altarpiece fragments, explaining the role different elements of altarpieces played in the overall ensemble. The exhibition examines the reasons why altarpieces came to be dismembered (often with the dissolution of religious institutions in the 18th and 19th centuries) and the methods that art historians now use to reassemble them.
Type of Event:	Antiques Shows - Events
Event Agenda:	6 July - 2 October 2011
Event Location:	THE NATIONAL GALLERY
Event City:	London
Type of Venue:	Gallery
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Event Start Date	30-Aug-11

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Devotion by Design: Italian Altarpieces before 1500