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Art & Art History vocabulary · Painting & Drawing

Triptych

Meaning in art & art history, with examples

/ˈtrɪptɪk/nounAdvanced term

In art & art history, triptych means: An artwork made of three panels placed side by side, often hinged so that the two outer panels can fold over the central one; typical of medieval and Renaissance altarpieces.

In Turkish: triptik, üç panolu eser

How it is used

Common on labels for altarpieces and in contemporary art, where painters and photographers still work in three parts. A work with two panels is a diptych, and one with many panels is a polyptych. People describe the central panel and the wings.

Example sentences

  1. When the wings of Bosch's triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights are closed, they show the world in shades of grey.

  2. Francis Bacon often painted in triptych form.

Common collocations

  • altarpiece triptych
  • central panel
  • side wings
  • diptych and triptych
  • temperaPaint made by mixing pigments with egg yolk and water; it dries quickly to a matt, durable surface and was the main technique for panel painting in Europe before oil paint.
  • GothicBelonging to the style of European art and architecture from about the twelfth to the fifteenth century, known for cathedrals with pointed arches, tall windows and stained glass.
  • RenaissanceThe period in European history, roughly from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, when art and learning were renewed by a strong interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture.
  • iconographyThe study of the symbols, figures and themes in artworks and what they meant to people at the time; also the set of images linked to a particular subject.

More terms: Painting & Drawing

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