triptych

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Harbaville Triptych , Byzantine ivory triptych , 10th century
Duccio : Small triptych Madonna between St. Dominic and Aurea , ca.1315
Dresden Triptych (Altar of Mary), Jan van Eyck, around 1437
The Last Judgment , Hans Memling, around 1470

A triptych ( plural : triptychs, triptychs; from ancient Greek τρίπτυχος tríptychos "three-fold, consisting of three layers") are three-part paintings or three-part relief panels , which are often connected with hinges that can be opened and are found in particular as devotional or altar pieces . Triptychs consist of a central panel and two usually narrower wings, sometimes supplemented by a base ( predella ) under the central part. A triptych with Christian motifs and movable side parts to close the middle part is a possible form of a winged altar .

In Italy the form of the triptych gradually began to dissolve in the 15th century. a. in favor of the so-called Sacra Conversazione on a single panel, as in Fra Angelico's Annalena altar (shortly after 1434) . Other altars show the form of a triptych in the subdivision by arches and crowning gables , but are designed as one large scene, such as Lorenzo Monaco's Coronation of the Virgin Mary (1414) and Adoration of the Magi (approx. 1421) in the Uffizi .

Size and intended use

The size of a triptych depends heavily on its use. This ranges from very small triptychs for the taking along on trips, such as the Dresden Triptych by Jan van Eyck or Pähler altar , on medium-sized panels such as the John altar of Rogier van der Weyden , which then are located in small chapels or private devotion rooms, ranging to large altars that stand prominently in the apse of a church, e.g. B. the Marienaltar by Conrad von Soest .

There are differences in the triptychs used as altars. In Italy they often couldn't be opened, for example the so-called Frari Triptych by Giovanni Bellini . However, many Italian triptychs were later taken apart and are no longer preserved in their original state. Some altars were painted on both the front and back, whereby the rear side in a monastery church was mostly only visible from the monks' choir. A significant example is the so-called Stefaneschi triptych by Giotto .
In addition, especially in Northern Europe, you can find altars that can be opened, where you can distinguish between an everyday side (closed) and a holiday side (open). The outside is mostly kept simple, often with a very reduced color palette up to pure grisaille . In contrast to this are the lavish, brightly colored inside pages, which were also painted in gothic style with a gold background . The outer sides of the travel triptychs have a protective function and are therefore kept simpler.

Content and motifs

The tripartite division allows certain figures or actions to be emphasized on the central panel - in Christian painting, for example, scenes with Jesus or a Madonna . Secondary figures such as the donors or other more locally important saints or clergy are depicted on the wings. Furthermore, the action shown in the center can also be linked and accompanied by preceding and following scenes. The reading direction of the triptych is mostly from left to right. Events that are far apart can also be linked with one another: The triptych The Hay Wagon by Hieronymus Bosch spans the arc from paradise to the world to hell . At the Last Judgment by Hans Memling the redeemed on the left panel and the damned are shown on the right.

Modern triptychs

Aino triptych ( Akseli Gallen-Kallela 1891)
left: First encounter between the aged Väinämöinen and the young Aino ; right: Aino desperate after his advertisement on the bank; middle: It springs from him forever
Great Zoological Garden ( August Macke 1913)

The triptych can also be found in the art of the late 19th and 20th centuries - such as the Aino triptych by the Finnish "Brücke" artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela , as well as in the present. On the German-speaking side, Otto Dix , Max Beckmann and Oskar Kokoschka should be mentioned in particular . The topics are no longer fixed on the religious: With Dix it is the First World War and its consequences; at Beckmann and Kokoschka mythological stories and artistic Quotes are Old Masters reassembled. Also Guernica by Pablo Picasso and Barnett Newman's series Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue can be regarded as triptychs and a confrontation with them. Another artist who arranged pictures as triptychs was the English painter Francis Bacon (1909–1992).

Even today, triptychs with a religious theme are created, sometimes also non-representational paintings such as Gary Stephen's Trinity from 1984.

Selected triptychs

Lorenzo Monaco: Coronation of Mary , 1414
Trittico dei Frari by Giovanni Bellini, 1488
Lorenzo Lotto: So-called polyptych by Recanati by Lorenzo Lotto , 1506–1508 (originally in the Church of San Domenico) Pinacoteca Civica, Recanati
Titian : Averoldi Altar , 1522

Italy

  • Crucifixion triptych by Duccio , ca.1305, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Crucifixion triptych by Duccio, c. 1302-08, Royal Collection
  • Madonna and Child and Saints Dominic and Aurea by Duccio, ca.1315, National Gallery, London
  • Cambridge Altarpiece ( Archangel Michael and Saints ) by Simone Martini , circa 1320, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
  • Stefaneschi triptych by Giotto , ca.1330, Vatican Museums, Rome
  • Triptych of St. Proclus by Ambrogio Lorenzetti , 1332, Uffizi Gallery , Florence
  • Triptych of St. Michael by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Palazzo Corboli Museum, Asciano
  • Triptych by Taddeo Gaddi , 1333, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
  • Crucifixion triptych by Spinello Aretino , 1395, Museu Nazionale di Villa Guinigi, Lucca
  • Triptych Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints Making Music by Taddeo di Bartolo , around 1395–97, Getty Center , Los Angeles
  • Triptych Madonna with angels making music and saints by Taddeo di Bartolo, around 1400, Oratorio di S. Caterina, Hospital Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
  • Coronation of the Virgin Mary by Spinello Aretino, 1401, Accademia , Florence
  • Annunciation triptych by Lorenzo Monaco , 1410–15, Accademia, Venice
  • Coronation of the Virgin Mary by Lorenzo Monaco, 1414, Uffizi Gallery, Florence
  • Triptych of the Last Judgment by Fra Angelico , ca.1429, Gemäldegalerie , Berlin
  • Madonna and Child, Angels and Saints by Fra Angelico, 1437, Galleria Nazionale , Perugia
  • Linaiuoli tabernacle by Fra Angelico, 1433, Museo di San Marco, Florence
  • Coronation of the Virgin Mary (" Marsuppini Altar ") by Filippo Lippi, 1441–45, Vatican Museums , Rome
  • Pala di San Zeno by Andrea Mantegna , 1460, San Zeno Maggiore , Verona
  • Uffizi Triptych ( Adoration of the Magi, etc.) by Andrea Mantegna , 1460s, Uffizi, Florence
  • Triptych of the Madonna by Jacopo Bellini , 1464–70, Accademia , Venice
  • Triptych of the Doctors of the Church by Antonello da Messina , approx. 1470 (various museums)
  • Triptych of San Giorgio by Carlo Crivelli , 1470 (various museums)
  • Altar of St. Vincent Ferrer by Giovanni Bellini , ca.1475, Santi Giovanni e Paolo , Venice
  • Triptych of Camerino by Carlo Crivelli, 1482, Pinacoteca di Brera , Milan
  • Frari Triptych by Giovanni Bellini, 1488, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari , Venice
  • Triptych Johannes d. Baptist by Cima da Conegliano , 1504-07, San Giovanni Battista, San Fior
  • Pala Priuli by Giovanni Bellini, c. 1505, Kunstpalast , Düsseldorf
  • So-called polyptych by Recanati by Lorenzo Lotto , 1506–1508 (originally in the Church of San Domenico) Pinacoteca Civica, Recanati
  • Averoldi Altar by Titian , 1522, Santi Nazaro e Celso, Brescia
  • So-called Polyptych of Ponteranica by Lorenzo Lotto, ca.1525, Santi Vincenzo e Alessandro, Ponteranica
  • Triptych with the Lamentation of Christ by Annibale Carracci , 1604, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica , Rome

Dutch and German art

Modern

Opera

The opera also knows triptychs. At least two examples are well known:

See also

  • Diptych (two-part picture or relief)
  • Polyptych (multi-part picture or relief)
  • Wax tablet (rectangular writing board of wood on one or both sides coated with wax)
  • Ancient codices (stacks of labeled or intended for labeling wooden or wax tablets)

literature

  • Marion Ackermann (Ed.): Three. The triptych in modern times. Kunstmuseum Stuttgart & Cantz, Ostfildern 2009, ISBN 978-3-7757-2327-5 .
  • Reinhard Brandt (Hrsg.): Masterpieces of painting. From Rogier van der Weyden to Andy Warhol. Reclam, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 3-379-20013-1 .
  • Klaus Gallwitz (Ed.): Max Beckmann. The triptychs in the Städel. Municipal gallery in the Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt 1981.
  • Friedhelm Mennekes : Triptych. Modern altarpieces in St. Peter Cologne. Insel, Frankfurt / Leipzig 1995, ISBN 3-458-16746-3 .
  • Antje Maria Neuner: The triptych in early old Dutch painting. Imagery and expressiveness of a form of composition. Lang, Frankfurt 1995, ISBN 3-631-49122-0 .
  • Caterina Limentani Virdis, Mari Pietrogiovanna: winged altars. Painted polyptychs of the Gothic and Renaissance periods. Hirmer, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7774-9520-4 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Triptych  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Triptychs  - Images and Media Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Gemoll : Greek-German school and hand dictionary . G. Freytag Verlag / Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, Munich / Vienna 1965.
  2. ↑ The altar from the former monastery of San Vincenzo d'Annalena is considered the first known rectangular altar panel from the Renaissance. Today it is in the Museo di San Marco , Florence. Gabriele Bartz: Fra Angelico , Könemann, Cologne 1998, pp. 34 and 37–38
  3. ↑ Main picture: Madonna with child and donors, left: Birth of Jesus, right: Crucifixion
  4. ↑ also: Triptych of Perugia
  5. ↑ The main picture is the Madonna and Child in the Uffizi Gallery (Florence), other pictures by doctors of the church are now scattered across several museums.
  6. ↑ Also known as the Polyptych of San Giorgio , it was originally in the Church of San Giorgio in Porto San Giorgio until 1803 . The main picture is the so-called Madonna Cook , which is today (2020) in the National Gallery of Art , Washington.
  7. ↑ Originally in the Church of San Domenico in Camerino.