Triptych

Triptych (Gr. tris, 'thrice,' and ptýssō, 'I fold'), a set of tablets consisting of three leaves, each painted with a distinct subject, but joined together by hinges, and capable of being folded so as to present a new face. The general character of such tablets has been explained under DIPTYCH (q.v.), the difference of name 'triptych,' 'polyptych,' being taken from the number of the leaves. In ecclesiastical use the diptych has been already explained as commonly meaning rather the register of names inscribed on the tablets than the tablets themselves. The triptych, on the contrary, generally speaking, contained sacred pictorial representations rather than written registers or records, and is extended to canvas pictures in three compartments. Famous triptychs are an altarpiece of the Van Eycks (q.v.) and the 'Descent from the Cross' by Rubens.