In pictures: Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece

The nativity scene from the central panel inside the Isenheim Altarpiece, portraying the Virgin Mary and infant Christ hymned by the angelic host Photograph: The Bridgeman Art Library

Close the altarpiece's wings and Grünewald's harrowingly detailed depiction of the Crucifixion, which portrays Christ at the other extreme of his life, appears Photograph: Musee d'Unterlinden, Colmar, France/The Bridgeman Art Library

Another view of the altarpiece, featuring the temptation of St Antony, the chapel's patron saint - the saint's hair is being pulled by gruesomely realised demons as part of his tribulations in the desert Photograph: The Bridgeman Art Library

In the bottom-left of the temptation scene, a scaly, sore-ridden and vaguely gangrenous creature can be seen Photograph: Corbis

Demons raging, another detail from the altarpiece Photograph: Musee d'Unterlinden, Colmar, France/The Bridgeman Art Library