What Do We Call a Single Work of Art Composed of Several Panels?

Art 101

What is a Triptych?

A triptych is an artwork made up of iii pieces or panels. Ofttimes used to impart narrative, create a sequence, or testify dissimilar elements of the same subject matter. Learn more about what makes a triptych and see contemporary examples in Ascension Art's blog.

By Tatty Martin

Triptych fine art is fabricated up of three pieces or panels. Often used to impart narrative, create a sequence, or show different elements of the same subject matter, since its conception, the triptych has continued to add a new dimension to visual art. The triptych is also used to split up a single slice of art into three, or to combine three pieces into one.

Pixelation (Triptych) by Andrij Savchuk

The power of triptych art lies in its power to work equally a coherent piece, as well as three separate works of art. I reason the triptych is generally more popular than, say a diptych (formed of two parts) or a quadriptych (formed of 4 parts) is the ability of the number 3. From its religious symbolism, to its ability to aptly incorporate the get-go, middle and finish of a plot, three pieces tin work to suit a number of motifs, from residual and pattern to story and meaning.

Diptych Abstract Landscape by Marleen Pennings

The Origin of Triptych Art

The term triptych comes from the Greek word 'triptykhos', which translates to hateful '3-layered'. The idea of 3 pieces creating layers and adding depth to a single artwork is key to some of the most famous and enduring triptychs throughout the history of fine art.

The triptych first fabricated its appearance in the Middle Ages, adorning the altarpieces of churches. Relaying stories of the bible and functioning to help prayer, triptychs were an important way of visualising Christianity and showing devotion.

Common subjects in 14th and 15th century, triptychs were images of the Madonna and child, the nativity of Jesus and the crucifixion. Oft finished with a grand and stately frame, many triptychs still be as the focal bespeak of the altarpiece.

The Garden of Earthly Delights (1490 - 1510) by Hieronymus Bosch (Wikipedia Eatables)

The Evolution of the Triptych

Examples of famous triptychs range from Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights (1490 - 1510), to Frederick McCubbin'southward The Pioneer (1904), to Francis Bacon'due south Triptych August 1972. Bacon is commonly associated with the resurgence of the triptych in modern art. From the 1940'south to the belatedly 80'south, Francis Bacon is thought to have painted 28 triptychs, all ranging in scales and subjects.

Bacon saw triptychs every bit a means of manifesting the series of images that existed in his mind. He notably remarked, "I suppose I could go long beyond the triptych and do 5 or six together, merely I find the triptych is a more counterbalanced unit of measurement." For Bacon, triptychs were a series, as one work alone would not accurately demonstrate his ideas.

Triptych Baronial 1972 by Francis Bacon (courtesy of Tate)

Artists Making Gimmicky Triptych Art

TOMMY CLARKE

The influence of the triptych has spanned into contemporary fine art, prevailing in everything from painting, to sculpture to photography. Many Rising Art artists have continued in this tradition, creating triptychs every bit a series or as a divide prototype.

British photographer Tommy Clarke has made a proper noun for himself with his zoomed out aerial photographs of people, nature, and the interaction between the two. Travelling the world, Tommy's photographs are instantly recognisable through the fluorescent turquoise of the sea, or the artful arrangement of sun loungers from afar.

Tommy's slice, Castaways Triptych is a horizontal photograph that has been split into three parts. The continuation of the sealine, the sand and the subtle swirls of surf creates a piece that seems to become on and on. The use of the triptych format reflects the endlessness of the sea and the shoreline, adding to Tommy'south ability to show the vastness of the world from the sky. Whilst Francis Bacon used the triptych to show the continuation of his thoughts and ideas, Tommy has used it to evidence the continuation of his subject.

Castaways Triptych by Tommy Clarke

Roseline Al Oumami

While Castaways Triptych is conspicuously split into iii different panels and displayed with space in between each one,mixed media artist, Roseline Al Oumami does things slightly differently. In her piece, "Voyage" Triptych, Roseline joins all iii canvases. Her piece in a continuation of brushstrokes, colour splashes and dynamic marks. The painting sprawls across the wall, and the canvases are bundled close together, which adds to the movement of the overall piece. Roseline'due south art is all about energy, emotion and atmosphere, and "Voyage" Triptych is no exception. It is a painting fuelled by vigour and vibrance and its composition across three canvases functions to add new sense of depth to the piece.

"Voyage" Triptych past Roseline Al Oumami

Kirsty O'Leary-Leeson

The Space Between Us past Kirsty O'Leary-Leeson

Kirsty O'Leary-Leeson frequently extends her drawings from i panel onto the next. In a similar way to Roseline Al Oumami, Kirsty's piece, The Infinite Between Us, creates a gust of motility as the class seeps across two panels. However, in Melancholy Strings (Triptych), Kirsty uses a different format, every bit her piece follows a vertical organisation. What's more, the piece is a series, in which the aforementioned subject field is repeated, just in a different focus. With her photorealistic manner, Kirsty imitates the exposure and effect of black and white photography to create a slice that is simultaneously i image and three separate images.

Melancholy Strings (Triptych) by Kirsty O'Leary-Leeson

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Source: https://www.riseart.com/guide/2414/what-is-a-triptych#:~:text=A%20triptych%20is%20an%20artwork,examples%20in%20Rise%20Art's%20blog.&text=Triptych%20art%20is%20made%20up%20of%20three%20pieces%20or%20panels.