Introduction. The altarpiece as a type ; Venice as a centre ; Changing formats ; Questions of terminology -- Part I : Contexts -- The physical environment. The church of San Marco ; The Byzantine tradition ; The Gothic tradition ; The new architecture ; Secular buildings ; Accessories ; Lights and lighting -- Purposes and uses. The religious life of the laity ; The juspatronatus of altars ; Subjects and dedications ; The altarpiece and lay devotion ; Lessons and reminders ; Altarpieces and non-altarpieces -- Donors. The clergy ; Individuals and families ; Confraternities ; Officers of state ; The export market -- Business practices. Decisions of form and content ; Methods of construction ; Painters and frame-makers ; Costs and payments ; Travel and transport ; Imports -- Part II : Objects -- Renaissance beginnings (c. 1450-1475). The Gothic tradition ; Development in Padua ; The "Paduan" format in Venice ; The creation of the sacra conversazione ; Two commissions for Pesaro -- Antonello and his Heritage (c. 1475-1500). Antonello's Venetian altarpiece ; The sacra conversazione triumphant ; Polytychs and triptychs 1475-1500 ; The emergence of the narrative altarpiece -- From early to sacra conversazione ; Developments in the narrative altarpiece ; Polyptychs and triptychs 1500-c. 1520 ; The foreigners. 8. Sculpture (a. 1450-1530). Polyptychs and tabernacles ; Reliefs ; The bronze altarpiece ; The architectural altarpiece -- Epilogue: Titian after Bellini. The Assunta ; The transformation of the sacra conversazione ; Two commissions for terraferma prelates ; The Death of St Peter Martyr -- Appendix: Some Major Venetian Altarpieces 1450-1530.
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