Saint Vincent Panels

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The Saint Vincent Panels are a polyptych perhaps painted between 1450 and 1480, consisting of six panels, depicting fifty-eight people from various groups of Portuguese society at the time, including the royal court. It is a unique "group portrait" in the history of European art. Described as a "solemn and monumental assembly", they are believed to have been painted by the royal painter of King Afonso V, Nuno Gonçalves, who was active from 1450 to 1471, though the full understanding of the intention and the significance behind the work remains a matter of debate. Traditionally, the polyptych is dated to the 1450s due to the inclusion of Prince Henry the Navigator among the persons represented in the panels. The original polyptych contained "over twelve" panels while it was displayed as a retable in the Lisbon Cathedral, part of an altarpiece dedicated to Saint Vincent, according to a source from 1767. They were displayed in the cathedral at least until 1690 and were set aside in the cathedral until 1742. They were then transferred to the Mitra Palace, where they escaped the devastating earthquake of Lisbon in 1755. The panels are now housed in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, in Lisbon.