For those who are a little familiar with the visual arts, as well as music and the terminology of words, the term "triptych" may be heard. But for people who are far from the history of classical painting, engraving, sculpture and music, this word will be completely unknown, and when they hear it for the first time, they ask themselves: "What is this … a triptych?" To understand what it means, it is enough to study the material below.
Triptych - what is it
The word "triptych" came to the great and mighty Russian language from ancient Greek, and is literally translated as "folded three times", "consisting of three additions".
In modern Russian, a triptych is a work of art consisting of three parts that are connected by a single idea or plot. Triptychs can be not only paintings, but also musical and literary works, films, bas-reliefs and sculptures. In church art, a triptych is understood as an icon, which consists of three wings. The "brothers" of the triptych are a diptych - a creation that combines its two components, a quadriptych, which has four parts in the composition and a polyptych, whichmay consist of more than four pieces. All these types of compositional space organization are united by one thing - each work divided into several parts necessarily has a single idea for all its elements.
This way of creating a creation allows an art connoisseur to look at the familiar from a completely different angle. The authors of the triptychs seem to make their fans think about what is common between all parts of their work, what differences can be found in them, why the creator of the work decided to make three elements from a single whole.
The triptych is a kind of attempt to popularize their creations and art in general, because conceptually united works arouse much more interest among people interested in creativity. They raise many questions, most of which the authors intriguingly leave unanswered, allowing critics only to put forward theories about what was the prerequisite for such a work.
Fine arts: triptych of paintings and works of applied art
Many famous artists have turned to this method of creating their paintings. Probably one of the most enigmatic three-part works of art is Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights, painted between 1500-1510. and shrouded in many myths and assumptions about its meaning. This is a triptych, which consists of three wooden wings, the left and right parts of which, when folded, covercentral and form an image of the world created by God on the third day.
In addition to oil paintings, triptychs were created from other materials. For example, in the 10th-11th century in Byzantium, a triptych so skillfully made of ivory was created that this work still excites the hearts of researchers and connoisseurs of beauty. Its author remains unknown. This triptych depicts the apostles, saints, Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and John the Baptist.
Triptych in music
Many people often think that a triptych is a direct connection only with paintings, but they forget that it is also a cycle of three pieces of music. For example, the composer Claude Debussy, impressed by the beauty of Paris, created the Nocturnes triptych, which included three symphonic works called Clouds, Festivities and Sirens. The opening piece of the triptych "Clouds" depicts the clouds of the Parisian sky, evoking melancholy and monotony of the weather. "Celebrations" is a more dynamic work and contrasts with the previous part. The successor to the second part of the musical triptych, the play "Sirens" is full of moonlight and the glitter of night waves, it simultaneously sings the beauty of these mythical creatures.
Photos enclosed in a triptych
Contemporary art should not be overlooked when it is saidabout triptychs: photographers often use this method in the compositional organization of their work. Most often, the largest work or the one with the greatest semantic load is placed in the center.
Photos in a triptych tell the viewer a little story, a sketch from the life of people, animals, nature. In such compositions, diversity can occur, that is, photographs of the distant, near and general plan are combined, which gives the overall dynamics.
