A Consagração de Santo Agostinho

In 1463 the tanners' guild of Barcelona hired Jaume Huguet to paint a towering altarpiece for their church of Sant Agusti Vell. It was terrible timing. Catalonia had just fallen into a long civil war, and money grew scarce, so what should have taken a few years dragged on for more than 20, finished only in 1486 with heavy help from Huguet's workshop. This panel, showing Augustine ordained a bishop in his gold and scarlet vestments, is widely thought to be the master's own work rather than an assistant's. It was one of the largest altarpieces in Catalan Gothic painting, and only eight of its many panels survive today.