03 — ARTWORK
The Malvagna Triptych
- MEDIUM
- Oil on panel, 46 x 35 cm (centre panel), 45 x 18 cm (each wing)
- TYPE
- Religious
PALETTE
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- FILE
- 1359 × 900 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
The interior of the altarpieceA picture or sculpture that stands on or is set up behind an altar. The term reredos is used for an ornamental screen or partition, not directly attached to the altar table but affixed to the wall behind it. A diptych is an altarpiece consisting of two panels, a triptych one of three panels, and a polyptych one of four or more panels. From the 14th to 16th century, the altarpiece was one of the most important commissions in European art; it was through the altarpiece that some of the most decisive developments in painting and sculpture came about. represents the Virgin and Child with Musical Angels (centre) and Sts Catherine and Dorothy (side wings). On the exterior, when the wings are closed, Adam and Eve are depicted.
In its original frame, this small house altar is the artist's only surviving intact triptychA painting in three sections, usually an altarpiece, consisting of a central panel and two outer panels, or wings. In many medieval triptychs the two outer wings were hinged so that could be closed over the center panel. Early triptychs were often portable.. It was already documented in the 1600s in Malvagna, Sicily, but its origin is not known. Recent technical examinations showed that the figures and landscape on the exterior wings were not executed by the same hand. It is assumed that the landscape was painted by Gerard David. The collaboration between Gossart and David also extended to the figures on the interior of the altarpiece.
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r18aa6e24ef3dd2,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {The Malvagna Triptych by GOSSART, Jan},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-09},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/gossart-jan-r3dc6e56b5e425a/the-malvagna-triptych-r18aa6e24ef3dd2},
urldate = {2026-09-09},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-09. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
