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
Dresden Altarpiece spreading incense from thuribles. The side panels also contain numerous puttoes in the background. Their style difference could indicate the intervention of assistants. <br> Dresden Altarpiece The Dresden Altarpiece is a triptych by German Renaissance artists Albrecht Dürer, executed between 1496 and 1497, and perhaps continued in 1503-1504. It is housed in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister of Dresden, Germany. The painting was one of the first commissions received from Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, together with the "Seven Sorrows Polyptych" and the "Portrait of Frederick III of Saxony". Dürer knew the elector during the latter's short stay in Nuremberg in