Icon, Diptych ,Triptych ,Iconostasion icon

An icon (from Greek eikōn, "image") is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from the Eastern Orthodox Church. In Eastern Christianity and other icon-painting Christian traditions, the icon is generally a flat panel painting depicting a holy being or object such as our Lord Jesus Christ, the most Holy Theotokos (Virgin Mary), patron Saints, Holy Angels, or the Holy Cross.

Diptychs

The word diptychs comes from Greek meaning "folding boards." It is two boards connected with a hinge. The word is used in the Church today to describe a type of icon or two kinds of lists. A diptych is a type of icon whereby two panels are joined together with a hinge, so that they may fold together for protection when traveling, and then be unfolded for veneration when one's destination has been reached. Such diptychs are also called "traveling icons". Most often, the images on the two panels will be Christ and the Theotokos.

Triptych

Is a type of icons which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and folded. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works; the diptych has two panels. The middle panel is the larger one and is flanked by two smaller, but related, works. While the root of the word is the ancient Greek "triptychos", the word arose into the medieval period from the name for an Ancient Roman writing tablet, which had two hinged panels flanking a central one.

Iconostasion icons

An iconostasis (also iconostas or icon screen) is a screen or wall which serves as a stable support for icons and marks the boundary between the nave and the altar or sanctuary. The term can also refer to a folding, portable set of icons. There has been historically and continues to be a vast range of styles for iconostases: Some are simply two icons of the Theotokos and the Lord; the most complex, cathedral icon screens have multiple tiers with many icons per tier. The iconostasis is perhaps the most distintive feature of Byzantine rite churches.