Altarpiece of the Corpus Christi

Guillem Seguer's Altarpiece of the Corpus Christi, dating to around 1340, reflects the growing devotion to the Eucharist that swept through 14th-century Catalonia following the institution of the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. Seguer was a Catalan painter active in the transition from Romanesque to Gothic styles in the Crown of Aragon. The altarpiece served a liturgical function directly connected to the celebration of the Real Presence of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine.

Tempera on panel in the characteristic Catalan Gothic altarpiece format with a central compartment flanked by lateral scenes. Seguer's style bridges the hieratic formality of Catalan Romanesque painting with the more naturalistic modeling and narrative complexity of the incoming Italian Gothic influence.