Anonymous: Altar frontal from Avià (1200)

(Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain)

A painting made by an unknown artist. This piece is a so-called altar frontal or antependium, a decorative piece which adorns the front of the altar in a Christian church. This piece shows various scenes from Jesus's childhood. In the center is the virgin Mary with Christ on her lap. This type of scene is called a 'Sedes Sapientiae', or Seat of Wisdom. The other scenes are:

- upper left corner: the annunciation and he Visitation (the meeting of Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, and saint Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist)
- lower left corner: The Three Magi (Gaspar, Balthassar, and Melchior)
- upper right corner: the birth of Christ
- lower right corner: the presentation of Jesus at the Temple

This frontal was originally from the church of St. Mary of Avià, in the county of Berguedà, Spain. Frontal from the 1200s.