Milan exhibit sheds new light on Renaissance altarpiece, reuniting far-flung panels after centuries

An unprecedented exhibition opening Wednesday at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan reunites for the first time in over 450 years eight surviving panels of the Augustinian Altarpiece by the early Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca, while possibly solving one of its enduring mysteries. Museums have tried and failed in the past to assemble the remaining eight panels, spread among five museums in Europe and the United States, of the original 30-piece polyptych. Poldi Pezzoli Museum director Alessandra Quarto succeeded this time, after learning that the owner of four of the pieces, the Frick Collection in New York, would be closed for six months.