medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Meg,
I am certainly not an art historian, but general my understanding is that the exterior view of a triptych (closed) would have been on view during the week, while the wings were only opened to reveal the interior carved corpus on feast days. Are these triptychs or polyptychs? With polyptychs there are more configuration possibilities, allowing the altar to be partially opened or closed to adjust the visual narratives according to the liturgical calendar. I'm not sure if this was also the practice in Scandinavia, but it seems plausible.
Here's a quick summary in English about how this style of altar was used from the Hungarian National Galary: http://www.hung-art.hu/tours/11_16_c6.html
If you have access to Grove Art Online through your library, they probably have far more information. If not, here is more information from the open-source Das große Kunstlexikon (In German):
http://www.beyars.com/kunstlexikon/lexikon_3017.html
Best,
-Rabia
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From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Cormack, Margaret Jean [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, July 08, 2013 11:14 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] open and closed altarpieces
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Greetings all!
I've been admiring a number of beautiful altarpieces in Scandinavian collections, and am wondering if there is a general rule about when these would be open, when closed? The paintings on the outside are in some cases as interesting as the carvings on the inside.
Thanks in advance,
Meg
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