SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST ALTARPIECE

SUPPORT AND ELABORATION 

An altarpiece made of slow grown oak. It comprises three sections, the highest of which is the central body, thus giving the altarpiece a typical inverted "T" shape. The rear of the first upper section is made up of four horizontally assembled panels with simple butt joint whose heights range from 29.5 to 18 cm and whose edges are studded. Panels along the perimeter are  joined together by a multiple assembly system using either dovetail or box joints. A later-applied polychrome decoration has hidden the hinges of the wings except for the upper rectangular plates used to attach them to the wood.

The different groups of figures on each section have been carved from a single piece of wood the size of practically half a tree trunk. Two of them are completely solid, whilst the relief of St. John, the Baptist has been meticulously hollowed out from the rear. All groups show marks made by chisels, planes, drawknives and adzes. Grass has been executed in a zigzag pattern so as to imitate the irregularities of the terrain.