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

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF FRAMES 141 · Variant of the slotted joint, with mixed cut on front (fig. 19: 16) We found 6 cases of this variant: Antwerp, MVB , no. 4 (Master of the Prado Redemption, Lamentation ); Bruges, GM , no. 7 (outer frame) (follower of Hans Memling, Virgin and Child ); Bruges, SJH , no. 12 (entourage of Adriaen Isenbrant, Triptych of the Trinity with Intercessors ); Bruges, GM , no. 13 (Bruges Anonymous, two wings with Adoration of the Magi and Adoration of the Shepherds ); Bruges, GM , no. 17 (central frame) (Adriaen Isenbrant, Triptych of the Virgin and Child with St John and St Jerome ); Bruges, GM , no. 24 (Bruges Anonymous, Roger de Jonghe on his Deathbed ) (in this case, the right part of the joint is very limited in size). Use of slotted joints became common practice in all production centres in the 16th century. This form of joint combined ease of execution (minimum use of a mortise chisel) and in most cases, not having to adapt the joint to the moulding. We count 72 frames with slotted joints. When frames have a lower rail with an inclined sill, this can be attached to the stiles either with a full mortise and tenon (7 cases), or with the simpler slotted form (7 cases also). In 12 out of 14 such cases, the works date from the first half of the 16th century, during which inclined sills remained a common feature of the lower rail. The Triptych of Abbot Antonius Tsgrooten , by Goossen van der Weyden, 1507 (Antwerp, RMFA , no. 8 ) is the oldest dated example of a slotted joint with mitring at the front, and cut square at the back (floating) (the most common form in the 16th century) that we have met. We prefer to leave out of account here the painting by the Master of the Guild of St George representing guild members, from around 1497 (Antwerp, RMFA , no. 6 ), where it has not been possible to determine the type of joint with certainty. In the case of the top rails of some wings, the slotted joint can be simplified by advancing the tenon shoulders on both sides. In these cases the shoulders are generally cut square to the rails. Our examples of this construction come mainly from Bruges, most of them from round the middle of the 16th century. In two works, this simplified slotted mortise and tenon joint presents mitring on both faces (Brussels, RMFAB , no. 25 ; Kuringen, HA , no. 1 ). It is also possible to have a mixed cut at the front, probably for greater solidity. We have one case of such a joint in Brussels around 1470 (Antwerp, MVB , no. 4 ) and four cases in Bruges from the early 16th century (Bruges, GM, no. 7 ; Bruges, GM , no. 13 ; Bruges, GM , no. 17 ; Bruges, SJH , no. 12 ). On the other hand, in two mid-16th century Brussels frames, a mixed cut at the back of the wings serves to provide mitring for the moulding.