Triptych-reliquaries, which had gradually expanded from the diptych form--three leaves or panels thus replacing two,--were generally used in Spain from the eleventh century, and varied in dimensions from a few inches in height and width to several yards. We find them in the Gothic, Mudejar,[27] Romanic, or Renaissance styles--wrought either in a single style of these, or in effective combination of some two or more. The Academy of History at Madrid possesses a richly ornamented Mudejar triptych (Plate ix.) proceeding from the Monasterio de Piedra. It is inferior, notwithstanding, to the _Tablas Alfonsinas_,[28] "a specimen of Spanish silversmiths' work which illustrates the transition to the new style, and the progress in the design of the figures owing to the Italian Renaissance."[29] In or about the year 1274, this splendid piece of sacred furniture was made by order of the learned king, to hold the relics of certain saints and of the Virgin Mary. The maker is thought by Amador to have been one "Master George," a craftsman held in high esteem by the father of Alfonso and the conqueror of Seville, Ferdinand the Third. Romanic influence is abundant in this triptych, showing that, although exposed to constant changes from abroad, the Spanish mediæval crafts adhered upon the whole with singular tenacity to primitive tradition. [27] The Mudejares were the Mussulmans who submitted, in the conquered cities, to the Spanish-Christian rule. The word _Mudejar_ is of modern growth, nor can its derivation be resolved with certainty. From the thirteenth century onwards, and formed by the fusion of the Christian and the Saracenic elements, we find Mudejar influence copiously distributed through every phase of Spanish life and art, and even literature. [28] Amador prefers to call these Tables "the triptych of the learned king," in order to distinguish them by this explicit title from the _Astronomical Tables_ prepared by order of the same monarch. [29] Riaño, _Spanish Arts_, p. 16.