POLYPTYCH

A 'polyptych' (from the Greek ''polu-'' "many" + ''ptychē'' "fold") generally refers to a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into four or more sections, or panels. (The term diptych is used to describe a two-part painting and the term triptych describes a three-part painting.)
Polyptychs were most common with Renaissance painters, the majority of polyptychs were designed to be altarpieces in churches and cathedrals. The form was also quite popular among ''ukiyo-e'' printmakers of Edo period Japan.
Examples of polyptychs include:

★ The Ghent Altarpiece is probably the most famous polyptych

★ ''Polyptych of the Misericordia'' (1445–1462) by Piero della Francesca

★ ''The Last Judgment Polyptych'' (c. 1450) by Rogier van der Weyden

★ ''Saint Augustine Polyptych'' (1470) by Perugino

★ ''The Demidoff Altarpiece'' (1476), by Carlo Crivelli, demonstrates the painter's preferred style of altarpiece

★ ''St. Dominic Polyptych'' (1506–08) by Lorenzo Lotto
In comic books and comic strips a 'polyptych' is a strip, or even an entire comic page, in which the background forms a continuous image even though it may be divided into separate panels; a good example is ''The Perishers'', which often uses polyptychs divided into three panels.