El Transparente, the baroque altapiece in the ambulatory of the cathedral of Toledo (Spain) [2000×1450]

Its name refers to the unique illumination provided by a large skylight cut very high up into the thick wall across the ambulatory, and another hole cut into the back of the altarpiece itself to allow shafts of sunlight to strike the tabernacle. This lower hole also allows persons in the ambulatory to see through the altarpiece to the tabernacle, as if it were transparent, so to speak. It was created between 1729-1732 by Narciso Tomé and his four sons (two architects, one painter, and one sculptor). The use of light and mixed materials (marble, bronze, paint, stucco) may reflect the influence of Bernini's Cathedra Petri in St Peter's Basilica, Rome.