St Wolfgang altarpiece, Gothic winged altarpiece in Sankt Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, Austria

The St Wolfgang altarpiece is a winged altarpiece (Pentaptychon) in the parish and pilgrimage church of Sankt Wolfgang im Salzkammergut. Its retable is 10.88 m high and 6.60 m wide when the wings are open. The shrine, tracery and sculptures are carved from Swiss pine, while the wing frames and panels are spruce. It contains 71 carved and painted sculptures and 24 individual paintings.

Michael Pacher of Bruneck built the altar between 1471 and 1479 for Abbot Benedikt Eck of Mondsee, who governed Sankt Wolfgang and sought a fitting work for its busy pilgrimage church. Pacher's Pustertal workshop spent nearly ten years on it before the parts were carried to the Wolfgangsee. Repainting in 1625 and cleanings in 1856/62 and 1969/76 left it otherwise unchanged.

The shrine shows the Coronation of Mary: the crowned Virgin kneels before Christ, surrounded by 16 angels, some playing instruments and others holding cloths, with the Holy Spirit as a dove above. Depicting the coronation by Christ with the Holy Spirit but without God the Father is unparalleled in the pictorial tradition.

The altar stands in the parish and pilgrimage church of Sankt Wolfgang; outside Lent the feast-day side with opened inner wings is normally on view, so the closed weekday side is rarely seen. The retable is 10.88 m high and 6.60 m wide with open wings. Look for the two armoured shrine guardians, St George and St Florian, whose lances rise above the shrine.

The altar has 71 carved, painted sculptures and 24 individual paintings. Its shrine, tracery and figures are carved from Swiss pine, while the wing frames and panels are spruce. The Coronation of Mary in the shrine shows Christ and the Holy Spirit as a dove but no God the Father, a composition without parallel in the pictorial tradition.