Editing Altarpiece (section)

===Late Middle Ages===
[[File:Rothenburg BW 16.JPG|thumb|250px|[[Rothenburg ob der Tauber|Rothenburg]]: The ''Altarpiece of the Holy Blood'', by [[Tilman Riemenschneider]] (1501–1505). An example of an altarpiece with a central, sculpted section and relief wings.]]

As the [[Middle Ages]] progressed, altarpieces began to be commissioned more frequently. In Northern Europe, initially [[Lübeck]] and later [[Antwerp]] would develop into veritable export centres for the production of altarpieces, exporting to Scandinavia, Spain and northern France.<ref name=splendor/> By the 15th century, altarpieces were often commissioned not only by churches but also by individuals, families, [[guild]]s and confraternities. The 15th century saw the birth of [[Early Netherlandish painting]] in the [[Low Countries]]; henceforth panel painting would dominate altarpiece production in the area. In Germany, sculpted wooden altarpieces were instead often preferred, for example the [[Veit Stoss altarpiece in Kraków]] (completed 1489), while in England there was a 15th-century industry producing relatively cheap painted altarpiece kits in [[Nottingham alabaster]], many of which were exported, the frame being added at the destination. 

In England, as well as in France, stone retables enjoyed general popularity. In Italy both stone retables and wooden polyptychs were common, with individual painted panels and often (notably in [[Venice]] and [[Bologna]]) with complex framing in the form of architectural compositions.<ref name=grove/> In Spain, altarpieces developed in a highly original fashion into often very large, architecturally influenced reredos, sometimes as tall as the church in which it was housed.<ref>DeGreve, 16</ref>