# Main Altar [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [SILOÉ, Gil de]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Wood ## Commentary Isabel the Catholic commissioned from Gil de Siloé, a native of northern Europe, French, Flemish or German origin, the great altarpiece in the Carthusian monastery at Miraflores \(Cartuja de Miraflores\). The polychromy and some figures are the work of Diego de la Cruz, part of the gold brought back by Columbus in his second voyage to America. The altarpiece, a symbol of the Eucharist, is constructed round a great centrally-placed circle, radiating like a rose window in a Gothic cathedral. The tortuous, allover ornament is consistent with the expressionistic style of the sculptures, which already look forward to the 16th century. ## Related artworks - [Main Altar \(detail\)]() - [Main Altar \(detail\)]() - [Tomb of Infante Alfonso]() - [Tomb of Juan de Padilla \(detail\)]() - [Tomb of Juan de Padilla \(detail\)]() - [Tomb of Juan II of Castile and Isabel of Portugal \(detail\)]() - [Tomb of Juan II of Castile and Isabel of Portugal]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()