Polyptych

Jan van Eyck : Ghent Altarpiece (around 1430)

As Polyptychon ( plural polyptychs , polyptychs ; of ancient Greek , often folded ') are writing boards of more than two elements referred to, then multi-divided painting or multiple relief panels , with hinges may be connected to unfold and in particular as devotional or altar find . In Central European usage, polyptych refers to a multi-fold winged altar or "convertible altar". A multiple picture or a writing board made up of two parts is a diptych , with three picture parts or wings it is a triptych ; The terms tetraptych for a four -part picture and pentaptych for a five-part picture are rarely used .

history

The history of the multi-picture altarpieces has so far been little researched. Their origins are likely to be found in the Byzantine iconostases as well as in small folding ivory altars that have been imitated in Italy since the end of the Middle Ages. From there, the tradition finally made its way to Central Europe, where the first larger winged altars were made, and to Spain, where the largest - non-changeable - altarpieces can be found.

Examples

• Ghent Altarpiece , Jan van Eyck (around 1430)
• The Last Judgment , Rogier van der Weyden (around 1460)
• Isenheim Altarpiece , Mathias Grünewald (around 1510)

Italy and Spain

In Italy, the multi-part, but rigidly mounted altar retables are also called polittico . The often huge and multi-pictorial, but unchangeable altarpieces in the Spanish cultural area are generally not referred to as polyptychs, but rather as retablo . Convertible altars with movable wings do not exist in either region.

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  Pietro Lorenzetti , Tarlati polyptych in Santa Maria della Pieve , Arezzo (around 1320)

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  Giotto di Bondone , Baroncelli Polptych in Santa Croce , Florence (around 1335)

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  Gentile da Fabriano , Polyptych from the Valle Romita (around 1415)

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  Carlo Crivelli , Polyptych by Sant'Emidio in Ascoli Piceno (around 1470)

More meanings of polyptych

• Polyptych also refers to a block of more than three writing tablets used from antiquity to the High Middle Ages , which are connected with a simple hinge (see wax tablet , codex ).
• Especially in the early medieval France directories (be land registers ) to ownership rights of a fundamental rule with the deliverables of their subjects as polyptych called.

See also

• Iconostasis (wall decorated with icons with three doors in Orthodox churches)
• Altarretabel (Altaraufsatz)

literature

• H. Lüdecke: On the question of polyptych. In: Fine arts. Volume 3, 1970, Polyptiques, cat. Paris 1990.

Web links

Commons : Polyptychs  - Pictures and Media Files

• PW Hartmann: Polyptych. In: BeyArs.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.