polyptych
(noun)
An artwork, usually a painting, consisting of four or more panels.
(noun)
A work consisting of multiple painted or carved panels joined together, often with hinges.
Examples of polyptych in the following topics:
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Flemish Painting in the Northern Renaissance
- The majority of this work was presented as either panels, single altarpieces, or more complex altarpieces, which were usually in the form of diptychs or polyptychs.
- While van Eyck completed many famous paintings, perhaps his most famous is the Ghent Altarpiece, a commissioned polyptych from around 1432.
- The Ghent Altarpiece, a commissioned polyptych from around 1432, is perhaps van Eyck's most famous work.
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Graphic Arts
- For the wealthy, small panel paintings, even polyptychs in oil painting, were becoming increasingly popular, often showing donor portraits alongside, though often much smaller than, the Virgin or saints depicted.
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Sculpture
- Types of ivories included small devotional polyptychs, single figures, especially of the Virgin, mirror-cases, combs, and elaborate caskets with scenes from Romances, used as engagement presents.
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Gothic Sculpture
- Additional objects typical of the time included small devotional polyptychs, single figures, especially of the Virgin Mary, mirror-cases, combs, and elaborate caskets with scenes from romances.
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German Painting in the Northern Renaissance
- It is an intensely emotional work that continues the German Gothic tradition of unrestrained gesture and expression, using Renaissance compositional principles while maintaining the Gothic format of the multi-winged polyptych.
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Objects of Worship in the Middle Byzantine Empire
- The panels could also be divided in two, known as diptychs, or sometimes had more than three panels, known as a polyptych.