diptych

Richard II of England and his patron saints, portrayed on the Wilton Diptych. From left to right, these are St Edmund and St Edward the Confessor (earlier English kings who came to be venerated as saints), and St John the Baptist. This scene was painted by an unknown artist, on one of two panels on a portable altarpiece designed for the king's private prayer.

Sculpture (usually in ivory) or painting, consisting of two panels hinged together like a book, enabling its use as a free-standing unit when open. Diptychs are often altarpieces, or portable altars containing a portrait facing the portrayal of a saint.

Several diptychs survive from the late Middle Ages, including the Wilton Diptych (c. 1395; National Gallery, London), which depicts the Virgin and Child on one face and Richard II and his patron saints on the other.