Two Venetian Ladies was verified by an in depth technical analysis, comparing the two fragmentary panels. Another panel the same size as these two combined would have been on the left; probably the two were hinged together to make a diptych, or a folding door or shutter. The Getty panel has an illusionistic letter rack painted on the back of the panel, which was presumably matched on this panel. This appears to be the earliest small-scale trompe-l'œil painting since antiquity. Two Venetian Ladies Two Venetian Ladies is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio. The painting, believed to be a quarter
Altarpiece Reformation regarded the Word of God – that is, the gospel – as central to Christendom, and Protestant altarpieces often displayed the actual words from the bible, sometimes at the expense of pictures. With time, Protestant though gave birth to the so-called pulpit altar, or "Kanzelaltar" in German, in which the altarpiece and the pulpit are combined, thus making the altarpiece quite literally the abode of the Word of God. Canvas painting started to replace other types of altarpieces during the mid-16th century and onwards. The Middle Ages was the heyday of the production and use of altarpieces. While many