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

HINGES. CLOSING, HANGING AND POSITIONING SYSTEMS AND DEVICES 113 6. This case was kindly communicated to us by B. Cardon, lecturer at KULeuven. Traces on the back of frames or under the lower rail sometimes testify that a work was initially fixed to a base (fig. 65). Fig. 65. Undersides of the lower rails of central frames and backs of panels. a. A peg hole testifies that the triptych was originally fixed to a base. Pieter Claeissens the Elder, Tripytch of the Salamanca Crucifixion , 1567 and 1581 (Bruges, GM , no. 22 ). b. Notches with a flared dovetail shape. In this case the original holding holes in the upper rail have been replaced by a hanging bracket. Anonymous, The Miracle of the Holy Sacrament , second half 16th century (Kuringen, HA , no. 1 ). c. Two mortises which also point to the existence of a base (the closing hook attached with a screw is not original). Anonymous, Triptych of the Descent from the Cross , 1567 (Leuven, MM , no. 9 ). a b c D. Marks The Brussels joiners’ mark (fig. 66), consisting of a compass and a plane, has been observed stamped onto a certain number of frames (fig. 67a-p): a Virgin and Child attributed to Hugo van der Goes (Brussels, RMFAB , no. 4 ) (fig. 67a); a Virgin and Child attributed to a follower of Rogier van der Weyden (Antwerp, MVB , no.1 ) (fig. 67b); a Triptych of the Virgin and Child attributed to Goossen van der Weyden (Tournai, MFA , no. 2 ) (fig. 67c); a Man of Sorrows and Mater Dolorosa attributed to Simon Marmion (Bruges, GM , no. 4 ) (fig. 67d); a Triptych of the Virgin and Child by a follower of Rogier van der Weyden (Brussels, PWC , no. 1 ) (fig. 67e); the Triptych of the Last Supper by the Master of the St Catherine Legend (Bruges, GS , no. 1 ) (fig. 67f). In the Sforza Triptych from Van der Weyden’s workshop (Brussels, RMFAB , no. 1 ) (fig. 67g), we seem to see the compass alone, but the wear of the frame and badigeon coating make this reading uncertain. Exceptionally the mark is found on the back of the centre panel of Bernard van Orley, T riptych of the Crucifixion (Bruges, Church of Our Lady) (fig. 67h). The Brussels joiners’ mark is also found on a Triptych with Adoration of the Magi from the early 16th century by the Master of the Magdalen Legend (Oviedo, Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias) and a Triptych of the Descent from the Cross conserved by the Brussels Sisters of Charity. 6 Fig. 66. Brussels joiners’ mark (compass and plane). Brussels Anonymous, Man of Sorrows and Mater Dolorosa , last quarter 15th century (Bruges, GM , no. 4) .