Triptych artworks are a distinct format, typically made up of three pieces or panels that are hinged.
The word triptych itself comes from the Greek triptychos, meaning 'having three folds' and it's no wonder that artists over the ages have used the format so many times, as it allows for closely related or contrasting themes to be captured, in turn allowing further expression of an idea.
And so here are some of our favourite triptych artworks, from the medieval through to the contemporary.
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights (pictured above)
We had to start our list with one of the most well known and maybe most mysterious artworks of all time. Painted somewhere between 1490 and 1500 and now housed in the Museo Del Prado in Madrid, Bosch's work is still analysed and debated over to this day. With themes of Heaven and Hell, good vs bad, the concept of sin and more, the artwork continues to capture the imagination.
Why we love it:
The sheer scale, breadth of imagery and vivid colours are astounding. Each time you see the painting, you see something new!
Francis Bacon, Three Studies of Lucian Freud
We probably could have made this entire list a top 10 of our favourite Francis Bacon triptych artworks - he painted an astonishing number of them and they're all incredible. In fact, Bacon's first triptych, Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944), is credited as putting the Irish-born British artist on the map, so the format was not only important for his vivid and raw expression, but also in inspiring new forms in post-war Europe.
Painted in 1969 and now held in a private collection, Three Studies of Lucian Freud depicts fellow artist Lucian Freud, seated in Bacon's abstract style, with the main figure contorted differently in all three panels.
In the artist's own words: ‘I see images in series. I suppose I could go long beyond the triptych and do five or six together, but I find the triptych is a more balanced unit’.
Why we love it:
Bacon's colours and mastery of form capture the intrinsic emotion of the subject, in an external manifestation. No other artist can shock or capture the viewer's attention in the same way.
Frederick McCubbin, The Pioneer
This massive masterpiece is hard to miss when you walk past it in the Ian Potter Centre, at The National Gallery of Victoria. Painted by Australian artist Frederick McCubbin at the turn of the 20th century, the three enormous panels depict a story of an early 1900s Australian farmer, choosing land to clear and farm, with his family featured in two of the three canvases.
Why we love it:
The lifelike details, subtle colours and natural surrounds captured at such scale, are inspiring.
Our folios take inspiration from the Triptych art format, which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together.