Crucifixion Diptych (van der Weyden) The painting's provenance prior to the mid-19th century is unknown. Its extreme starkness has led art historians to theorize that it was created as a devotional work, possibly for a Carthusian monastery. It is not known if the panels comprised a self-contained diptych, two-thirds of a triptych, or originally were a single panel. Some art historians have mentioned that the work seems unbalanced overall and lacking symmetry (which might indicate a missing panel or panels). Recent scholarship proposes that the panels functioned as the outer shutters of a carved altarpiece. The background to the panels is unknown. Scholars have theorized
Fano Altarpiece Fano Altarpiece The Fano Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Pietro Perugino, executed in 1497, and housed in the church of Santa Maria Nuova, Fano, central Italy. It also includes a lunette with a "Pietà" and several predella panels. Perugino had already painted an "Annunciation" in 1488-1490. Several scholars have supposed that a young Raphael collaborated on the predella. The Madonna is portrayed on a luminous landscape of hills, on a high throne; in front of her is a pedestal with, on it, a mystic vase, and featuring the signature and date, which were always added by