Anonymous - Wilton Diptych

• Title: Wilton Diptych
• Artist: Anonymous (-)
• Date: c.1395-99
• Medium: Tempera on baltic oak panel
• Dimensions: each panel is 53 x 37 cm

The “Wilton Diptych” is a small portable diptych of two hinged panels, painted on both sides, with the inner faces of the panels in excellent condition and the outer faces having suffered paint losses from handling. It was most probably done by a French artist in the International Gothic style.

The painting was commissioned by King Richard II of England, who is depicted kneeling before Mary and her child, Jesus, and being presented to them (left to right) by the English saints King Edmund the Martyr and King Edward the Confessor and by John the Baptist. The diptych functions not only as a religious artifact, presenting Richard II as a humble supplicant seeking her intercession, but also as a political statement, reinforcing Richard’s divine right to rule and his connection to the heavenly realm.

The inside panels are thematically linked but different in styles- the scene of Richard and his patrons is quite sedate while the many angels who encircle the mother and child give a sense of movement; the background of Richard’s panel is only gold, while the other panel is dominantly blue with a restricted background, also of gold but punched differently, has a flowery ground symbolizing the gardens of Paradise.