Polyptych
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A polyptych (from the Greek polu- "many" + ptychē "fold") generally refers to a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into four or more sections, or panels. (The term diptych is used to describe a two-part painting and the term triptych describes a three-part painting.)
Polyptychs were most common with Renaissance painters, the majority of polyptychs were designed to be altarpieces in churches and cathedrals. The form was also quite popular among ukiyo-e printmakers of Edo period Japan.
Examples of polyptychs include:
- The Ghent Altarpiece is probably the most famous Polyptych
- Polyptych of the Misericordia (1445-1462) by Piero della Francesca
- The Last Judgment Polyptych (c. 1450) by Rogier van der Weyden
- Saint Augustine Polyptych (1470) by Perugino
- The Demidoff Altarpiece (1476), by Carlo Crivelli, demonstrates the painter's preferred style of altarpiece
- St. Dominic Polyptych (1506-08) by Lorenzo Lotto
In comic books and comic strips a polyptych is a strip, or even an entire comic page, in which the background forms a continuous image even though it may be divided into separate panels; a good example is The Perishers which often uses polyptychs divided into 3 panels.
