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

CHAPTER VII 136 · Variant of the previous joint, with mixed cut at the front (fig. 19: 13 ) We found 1 example of this variant: Brussels, RMFAB , no. 1 (workshop of Rogier van der Weyden, Sforza Triptych ). · Variant with mitring on both faces (fig. 19: 11 ) We found 1 example of this variant: Bruges, SJH , no. 2 (Hans Memling, Floreins Triptych ). On the 12 works with half-dovetail joints just mentioned, 7 frames carry the Brussels joiners’mark of compass and plane (Bruges, GS , no. 1 ; Brussels, PWC , no. 1 ; Brussels, RMFAB , no. 1 ; Brussels, RMFAB , no. 4 ; Tournai, MFA , no. 2 ; Bruges, GM , no. 4; Antwerp, MVB , no. 1 ). In each case, the lower rail has an inclined sill, and is assembled to the stiles with a through tenon (fig. 19: 10). What we have here is a homogeneous group in terms of woodwork and origin, dating from the second half of the 15th century. The Sforza Triptych (Brussels, RMFAB , no. 1 ) has a half-dovetail assembly with a mixed cut on the front; this mixed cut is perhaps an older variant of this joint. The compass mark (without the plane) is visible in on the narrow side of the central frame. The Brussels joiners’ mark has also been observed on the Triptych of the Adoration of the Magi by a follower of the Master of the Magdalen Legend (Oviedo, Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias, inv. no. 277). This strong presence of half-dovetail joints associated with the Brussels’ joiners mark (seven cases out of twelve) raises questions about the origin of other joinery with the dovetail alone. In the case of The Supper at Simon’s House by a follower of Dirk Bouts (Bruges, SJH , no. 8 ), the high quality of the support contrasts with the poor joinery of certain Leuven works, such as the Triptych of the Assumption of the Virgin of Albrecht Bouts (Brussels, RMFAB , no. 21 ). The Triptych of the Adoration of the Magi by a follower of Bernard van Orley (Brussels, RMFAB , no. 22 ), with half-dovetail joints, is also presumed to be of Brussels provenance. It is not impossible that a Leuven artist