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

CARVED AND PAINTED DECORATION 101 6. Inscriptions The frames of the painted panels often carry inscriptions (fig. 56a-c). These respond to various concerns: a prayer or a pious invocation, the identification of a depicted person or scene, the “signature” or the name of the artist and the date of production of the work. Sometimes two or three inscriptions are found in the same work. Jan van Eyck’s works are a good example of the information carried by such inscriptions. Apart from the Van Eyck brothers’ altarpieces in Ghent and the famous quatrain, several other works bear Jan van Eyck’s name. One of the detailed inscriptions is on the frame of the Virgin and Child with Canon Joris van der Paele (Bruges, GM , no. 1 ). In it we find the artist’s name, Jan van Eyck, the date of completion of the work, 1436, the identification of the donor, a canon of St Donatian’s Cathedral in Bruges, the coats of arms of his paternal and maternal family (the Carlins), references to chaplaincies he founded in the same church, texts relating to St George and St Donatian, and a passage from the Book of Wisdom: “Hec est speciosior sole…” In the following seven works, the artist’s name appears on the frame. In two works, the person represented is identified: Jan de Leeuw , 1436 (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv. no. 946) and Margaret van Eyck , 1439 (Bruges, GM , no. 2 ). On the Triptych with Virgin and Child with Donor , 1437 (Dresden, Gemäldegalerie, inv. no. 799) we find quotes from the Bible (Books of Wisdom and Ecclesiastes) and a presentation of the Archangel Michael. Only the artist’s name and date appear on the frames of three works: the Portrait of a Man ( Self Portrait ?), 1433 (London, The National Gallery, inv. no. NG222), St Barbara , 1437 (Antwerp, RMFA , no. 2 ), and Virgin at the Fountain , 1439 (Antwerp, RMFA , no. 3 ). The Portrait of Arnolfini and his wife (London, The National Gallery, inv. no. NG186) is the only case in the work of Jan van Eyck where the name of the artist is on the painted panel itself.