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

MASTERS AND MASTERPIECES: the ghent altarpiece 199 · The Adam and the Eve wings The only wing panels that have not been sawn in two along the grain are those of Adam and of Eve. These are each c. 1.2 cm thick. Each frame consists of six elements: two stiles, one lower rail, one “floating” median rail (i.e. placed on top of the panel and not embedded in it) on the closed side only, and two curved upper rails, pegged onto the panel, one on the closed side, the other on the open side. The bottom rail is connected to the stiles with mortise and tenon joints, with one peg in each joint. The median rail is secured to the stiles with half-lap dovetail joints. The curved upper rails attached to the panel are not joined to the stiles: one end slightly overlaps the longer stile, the other end butts onto the shorter stile. Fig. 101. Centre: modern frame (front view). The panel, which is 2.2 to 2.3 cm thick, presents a one- sided tongue and a chamfer. The moulding of the frame is shaped in successive sections, more markedly so than in the lower altarpiece.