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

CHAPTER VII 134 · Variant with mitre-square-mitre cut on front face (fig. 19: 7 ) We found 1 example of this joint: Bruges, SJH , no. 11 (Jan Provoost, Diptych with Christ Carrying the Cross and Portrait of a Friar Minor ). The mortise and tenon with “floating” is an improvement on previous models. The floating consolidates the joint. We have observed this particular joint in nine frames from the second half of the 15th century. The earliest example is dated 1481 (Ghent, CM , no. 1 ). The painting with Scenes of the Legend of St George (Bruges, GM , no. 12 ), of unspecified dating, is included in this group. In both cases, this type of joint is seen again in Bruges frames of the mid-16th century (Bruges, GM , no. 20 ; Bruges, OLPM , no. 5 ). A variant of this joint, observed in the Diptych with Christ Carrying the Cross and Portrait of a Friar Minor by Jan Provoost, 1522 (Bruges, SJH , no. 11 ) allows for mitring to adjust to a second set of mouldings. This joint is very complex and is unique in the works that we have studied. At the time of Provoost, another joint, the slotted tenon, served to mitre the front side of the frame. · Mortise and tenon joints with mitring, cut square at the back (fig. 19: 6) In 6 cases we have a mortise and tenon joint with mitring and cut square at the back: Bruges, SJH , no. 1 (Hans Memling, The St John Altarpiece ); Bruges, SJH , no. 2 (Hans Memling, Jan Floreins Triptych ); Bruges, SJH , no. 3 (Hans Memling, The Sibyl Sambetha ); Bruges, SJH , no. 4 (Hans Memling, Reins Triptych ); Antwerp, RMFA , no. 6 (Master of the Guild of St George, Members of the Mechelen Guild of Crossbowmen with their Patron , St George and Two Saints ); Antwerp, MVB , no. 2 (Master of the St Ursula Legend, Portrait of a Woman with a Pink ).