Imperial diptych Imperial diptych In Late Antiquity, an imperial diptych is a theoretical type of ivory diptych, made up of two leaves of five panels each and each with a central panel representing the emperor or empress. They are so-named in contrast to consular diptychs. They were produced as unique examples, whereas each consular diptych was produced in large numbers to offer to the emperor on certain occasions, principally a nobleman's entry to the consulship. No complete example of an imperial diptych survives and so their existence is contested. The ivories specialist R. Delbrück has theorised that the 19 surviving fragments of
Symmachi–Nicomachi diptych important events, most often the attainment of the consulship. The diptych form, at least originally, served as a pair of covers for wax writing tablets. The work as a whole has been interpreted as a study in nostalgia. Just as the majority of the Roman world had rejected polytheism in favor of Christianity, so too it left behind the techniques of proportion and perspective that characterised the art of its forebears. ---- Symmachi–Nicomachi diptych The Symmachi–Nicomachi diptych is a book-size, Late Antique ivory diptych dating to the late fourth or early fifth century, whose panels depict scenes of ritual pagan