The Panels of Saint Vincent

The Panels of Saint Vincent

Nuno Gonçalves

The Panels of Saint Vincent

c. 1470

Nuno Gonçalves's 'Saint Vincent Panels' (c. 1470), a six-part altarpiece, is the single most important work of Portuguese Renaissance painting. Around the patron saint of Lisbon are gathered 58 portraits representing every class of 15th-century Portuguese society — the king and queen, knights, clergy, Jews, fishermen, monks — a collective portrait of Portugal on the verge of its global maritime expansion. The altarpiece is the cornerstone of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (MNAA) in Lisbon.

Exhibition Venue

Image source: Wikimedia Commons