thumb|upright=1.6|The St, Vincent Panels on display at the [[National Museum of Ancient Art.]]

The Saint Vincent Panels, or the Adoration of Saint Vincent panels, are a polyptych consisting of six panels that were perhaps painted in the 1450s-1480. They are attributed to the Portuguese painter Nuno Gonçalves, who was active from 1450 to 1471. Traditionally, the polyptych is dated to the 1450s due to the putative prominence of Prince Henry the Navigator among the persons represented in the panels (Henry died in 1460). Controversy concerning the true nature of Henry's presence in the panels – if any – along with the inclusion of figures that can be identified as his brothers, all of whom died before 1450, renders it difficult to assign any secure date for the creation of the panels other than sometime during the floruit of the painter Gonçalves.

The original retable, during its stay in the Cathedral of Lisbon, contained "over twelve" panels, as a source from 1767 states. They were displayed in the cathedral at least until 1690 and were set aside in the cathedral until 1742. They were then transferred to the palace of Mitra, where they escaped the devastating earthquake of Lisbon in 1755.

The panels are now housed in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (National Museum of Antique Art), in Lisbon.

Discovery

Found during the late 1880s in the monastery of Saint Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, the panels depict scenes associated with the veneration of Saint Vincent of Saragossa. This polyptych consists of six separate panels of oak painted with oil or tempera.

The only reference that art historians can use to support the attribution of the creation of the panels to the painter Gonçalves was written in the 16th century by Francisco de Holanda. The reference mentions a great work of art made by him that is inferred to be these panels. There has also been speculation that the father of Hugo van der Goes collaborated in the painting of the panels, but no firm evidence to support this hypothesis exists. In any case, the Saint Vincent Panels are regarded as the greatest achievement of pre-modern Portuguese art.

thumb|center|750px|Saint Vincent Panels. From left to right: Panel of the Friars, Panel of the Fishermen, Panel of the Prince, Panel of the Archbishop, Panel of the Knights, and Panel of the Relic

Interpretations

Since their discovery in the late 19th century, there has been a continuing dispute over the identity of the painter and the subjects portrayed on the panels. Some basic questions, still unanswered, are these:

  • What scene, or scenes, are depicted in the panels?
  • Who are the sixty persons portrayed?
  • What symbolism is expressed in the panels?
  • Who commissioned these panels to be painted?

The majority of experts who have studied this polyptych agree that the panels display several social groups of 15th-century Portugal. They also agree that the children of King John I are represented on these panels, but there is disagreement about their placement and identity.

Panel of the Prince: alternative hypothesis

thumb|right|220px|The third panel - Panel of the Prince

One of the more controversial issues concerning the panels is the depiction of Prince Henry the Navigator. At first glance, the appearance of the man in black in the third panel is quite compatible with traditional conceptions of Prince Henry's likeness: a man with a light moustache and distinctive black round chaperon such as can be found in numerous representations today. However, there are strong reasons to doubt that this is him.

thumb|left|150px|Frontispiece in Zurara's Crónicas dos Feitos de Guiné (Paris codex)

The most basic problem in identifying the man-in-the-chaperon in the Saint Vincent Panels derives from the lack of confirmed portraits of Prince Henry that date from his lifetime. The only other 15th-century image of the man-in-the-chaperon is found in the frontispiece of a copy (currently held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France) of Gomes Eanes de Zurara's Crónicas dos Feitos de Guiné, written in 1453.

One alternative hypothesis postulates that the man-in-the-chaperon in Zurara's book might actually be King Edward of Portugal (r. 1431-38), Prince Henry's brother.

If this interpretation is valid, then the polyptych of St. Vincent may very well have been conceived by Nuno Gonçalves as a piece of anti-Braganza political propaganda, one possible reason it might have remained hidden for years.