Frames and supports in 15th and 16th-century Southern Netherlandish painting

1 A. Woodworkers and guilds The boundary lines between the various woodworking professions, that is, carpenters, joiners, sculptors and, to a lesser extent, turners, were not always clearly delimited. The skills of each branch sometimes overlapped. Woodworking was organized within the dirigiste context of guilds and could vary from one city to another. Furthermore, present-day distinctions between the various woodworking crafts only partially correspond to the medieval reality. If joiners certainly produced the largest share of the supports for paintings, carpenters, woodcarvers – and occasionally even turners – also produced them. In Bruges, the apprenticeship period was four years for carpenters and joiners and one year for sawyers. A master joiner could work with no more than three journeymen and, apart from any sons, only one apprentice at a time. 1 Woodcarvers were part of the joiners’ guild and worked in the latters’ shops, initially replacing one of the journeymen. In 1524, an amendment to the ordinance specifies that the joiner is also allowed to have a woodcarver in his service, in addition to the three journeymen. Subsequently, woodcarvers were permitted to own their own shops. 2 As this innovation led to the closure of some joiners’ shops, the previous situation was restored in 1547. The possible collaboration between woodcarvers and painters probably explains the carved decoration found on some Bruges frames. On 5 July 1455, a concordat between the joiners and carpenters of Bruges delimited the field of activity of each other. Joiners were permitted to produce altarpieces, the flat supports for paintings, antependia , and the hutches of carved altarpieces. 3 But they did not have exclusivity of these tasks, as carpenters were also permitted to undertake them. Carpenters supplant joiners in some areas as they are the only ones permitted to produce large-sized civil and religious furniture and everything fixed to wall and floor. Joiners are allowed to produce movable furniture items not exceeding certain dimensions. For some work, they may not use boards longer than 8 feet (219.5 cm). The only existing prohibition against carpenters is gluing: the use of the glue pot is the CHAPTER I MATERIALS AND MEN 1. Van de Velde 1909, 11; Vandewalle 1985. 2. Van de Velde 1909, 109-110. 3. Ibid., 66-69; Sosson 1977, 144.