The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow has published an educational newsletter devoted to the polyptych, the multi-part painted format that unfolds across several panels rather than a single surface. The museum describes polyptychs as sacred compositions especially associated with Late Medieval and Renaissance art, and uses its own holdings to show how the form developed from religious imagery into a broader artistic device that continued to attract artists in the 20th century.
The term itself, the newsletter notes, comes from Greek roots meaning “many” and “fold” or “panel.” In its basic structure, a polyptych is a picture divided into sections or boards. The best-known variants are the diptych, made of two parts, and the triptych, made of three. The Pushkin Museum also points out that the exact origin of the format is difficult to determine, but that in 13th-century Italy artists took up a Byzantine tradition of icon screens and combined it with Gothic features, helping the form take shape in the early 14th century.
The museum’s explanation emphasizes how polyptychs were designed to work as objects in time as well as in space. A central panel usually carries the main scene and is larger than the others, while side panels may function as wings, including hinged or reversible sections. In some works, images appear on both sides of the panels, allowing different narratives to be shown when the shutters are opened or closed. According to the museum, these works were often kept shut and opened on Sundays and feast days. In the medieval and Renaissance periods, the format belonged to religious art; in the 20th century, it was reinterpreted and used beyond painting as well.
Among the examples highlighted from the Pushkin Museum’s permanent collection is a 1393 polyptych by Francesco d’Antonio da Ancona, 'Madonna and Child Enthroned with Christ and Saints'. The museum describes it as the artist’s only known signed work and says the fourteen painted parts are joined by a carved gilded frame. Its main panel shows the Madonna enthroned with the infant Christ, while the full ensemble develops themes of divine protection and redemptive sacrifice.
The newsletter also points to an example from the 20th century: Henri Matisse’s 'Moroccan Triptych'. Painted under impressions from a journey to Tangier, the work was assembled by Matisse himself for collector Ivan Morozov, according to the museum. The Pushkin Museum characterizes the triptych as evoking a distinctive eastern colorism while bringing together natural and artistic associations and a meditative mood linked to the city and its inhabitants.
The museum says polyptychs from the 14th through the 20th century are preserved in its permanent exhibition, and that these and other examples can be seen there. It lists the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts’ main building at 12 Volkhonka Street and the Gallery of Art of Europe and America of the 19th and 20th Centuries at 14 Volkhonka Street in Moscow.
