My notes on the altarpiece; hopefully this is what you mean by "characterize"

• Reflects Catholic beliefs
• Created for the monastic hospital order Saint Anthony of Isenheim
• Saint Sebastian is on the left, Saint Anthony is on the right, lamentation is on the predella
• Saint Anthony and Saint Sebastian are associated with miraculous cures
• • It is meant to encourage devotion and provide hope
• The right panel:
• • Depicts the five temptations as monstrous creatures
  • The grotesque man has ergotism which was known as "Saint Anthony's fire"
  • • They didn't know what caused "Saint Anthony's fire" until the 1600s
    • It was a major illness at the time that was treated in this hospital
• The left panel:
• • The meeting of Saint Anthony and Saint Paul