The Wilton Diptych 

The Wilton Diptych is a small portable diptych. It means that it is a painting with two flat plates attached at a hinge. The diptych was painted for King Richard II of England who is depicted kneeling before the Virgin and Christ Child. He is presented to them by his patron saint, John the Baptist, and by the English royal saints Edward the Confessor and Edmund the Martyr. Each panel measure 53*37 cm there are both composed of Baltic Oak, it is a kind of wood. This painting has been painted circa 1395-1399 it is one of the rare survival of the late Medieval religious panel painting from England. It has been painted by an unknown artist who is probably French or English. Now this painting is the property of the National Gallery in London, it is one of the greatest examples of the International Gothic style. This painting is in tempera it means that the ground paint is mixed with egg yolk and laid in thin glazes. In the left inner panel we can see the kneeling King Richard II presented by the Saints John the Baptist, Edward the Confessor and Edmund the Martyr. On the right inner panel we can see the Virgin Mary who is holding the Christ Child in her arms, she is surrounded by eleven angels, against a golden background and field of delicately coloured flowers. The right panel represents the divine world and the left panel represents the human world. The figures of the two inner scenes (the divine and the human world) are facing each other, and they are interacting by gazes and gestures. We can also see that they are set in different backgrounds. The human figures are on bare rocky ground, with a forest behind, and a gold leaf "sky" decorated with a pattern made by a metal punch. The heavenly figures stand in a flowery meadow, behind which is a gold background patterned by a different punch. In the panel with the Virgin and Christ Child, the garments are universally blue the pigment coming from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli. In the right panel the robe of Richard uses vermilion, which is another expensive pigment. In the diptych some colours have faded; the roses in the angels' hair would originally have been a much deeper pink, and the green grass of the outer hart panel is now much darker than when painted. The dominance of the blue give a a divine aspect to the scene though the scene in the left plays more with the contrasts and the variations of colours and structures. The calm and the static posture of the King and the saints is opposed to the energetique caracter of the scene where there is the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. Personally I like this painting because for me it is an original and an intelligible painting, this painting has an historical meaning and the fact that we don't know the painter give more mystery to the scene.

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