Then from around 1400 to 1580 in Flanders, we see an influx of diptychs in Northern Renaissance religious paintings, which became popular with prominent Flemish artists such as Jan van Eyck.
During the Byzantine era, diptychs frequently took their place as traveling icons for private religious purposes.ĭiptychs were widespread in Italy by the 13th century and regularly featured in Italian Renaissance artworks. However, the triptych was a more popular choice for altarpieces. Diptychs could be used as sacred artworks for Christian art, and they were sometimes made into altarpieces. They were commonly hinged together as a means of protecting the artwork encased within. There were luxurious versions, crafted with extravagant materials and standard diptychs with wooden frames.ĭiptychs were a favored art form of Medieval paintings, which continued into the Renaissance period. The plates were often made from wood, but versions made from metal or bone could also be found. Then, as if by magic, heating the wax slightly would smooth it over and it would be good as new, erasing all previous etchings. Where a diptych was made up of a pair of plates that were hinged together and filled with wax that could be inscribed, a stylus was then used to scratch the surface of the wax to write on it.Īn ivory consular diptych of Areobindus, Byzantium (506 AD), located in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France Louvre Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Diptychs were used as writing tablets that could fold we can almost think of the diptych as an ancient version of the standard notebook.
If we break down the diptych definition, we find that it is derived from the Greek words di meaning “two” and ptychē meaning “fold.” Its original title gives us an indication of its original function.
An example of this would be a diptych containing the portraits of a married couple, where each partner was depicted in a separate panel, but the same color palette and technique were used in each panel to provide cohesion. It is also common for the panels to share composition or color but depict different scenes in each panel. The two panels often depict scenes that are closely related to each other or demonstrate different perspectives of the same scene. Adding another panel would transform the diptych into a triptych.ĭiptychs come in a variety of styles. The panels that form diptych artwork can be fixed together by a hinge or they can be adjoining pieces. The formation can be portrait or landscape and it is common for both pieces to be the same size. Diptych artwork can feature paintings, photographs, drawings, carvings, or any flat piece of artwork. Here is the diptych definition, put simply a diptych is an object that is made up of two parts, a singular piece of artwork formed by a pair of panels joined together.
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