The literal content or story of a work that stands for abstract ideas, suggesting a parallel, deeper, symbolic sense. The most common type of altarpiece is a painting spread over several panels hung together like folding screens. A simple type consists of a central panel with two flanking half-sized doors to close over it. A three-part painting of this sort is called a triptych. Paintings with more complicated arrangements, are called polyptychs.
Altarpieces often have a decorated panel at the bottom called a predella.
Some Baroque altarpieces are highly emotional flights of fancy, with painting, sculpture, and architectural accompaniments skillfully interwoven for theatrical effect. Altarpieces are sometime called reredos or retablos. A Peruvian editorial launched in Lima in 1926-30. Amauta was a review, which linked the artistic and literary avant-garde to revolutionary politics. It represents a movement, a spirit.