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

MASTERS AND MASTERPIECES: the ghent altarpiece 205 12. We do not know if the Coxcie panels with the Virgin and St John the Baptist were originally curved. All the frames were renewed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Brussels wings have black and gold frames, curved at the top, dating from 1861-1865, the Virgin and St John the Baptist retain the rectangular neo-classical frames by Schinkel (see note 27 ) but with small curved inserts in the upper corners, the Divine Lord and the Lamb are presented in large modern gilt frames. That of the Divine Lord is rounded at the top. original unpainted curved upper edge. 12 None of Coxcie’s panels retains its original frame that could have provided further elucidation. · The differences between the two altarpieces In addition to the marked differences in construction and general design of the carpentry that we have described above, other differences are worth noting: the thickness of the panels, the manner of thinning back their outer edges, the layout and shape of the hinges (fig. 106), the width of the wings, the ironwork, and the closing systems. The mouldings of the two altarpieces exhibit the same general appearance, but have been produced with different tools. The central panel of the lower altarpiece, which is 3.4 cm thick, is heavily rebated from the back, with, on the front side, a chamfer extending over more or less 5 cm. In the upper altarpiece, on the other hand, we find a one-sided tongue and a chamfer. The panel here is 2.2 to 2.3 cm thick. Fig. 106. a. Detail of a 19th century photograph taken in Berlin. The hinges between the wings of the lower altarpiece have their upper and lower ends slightly splayed. Each plate is embedded and fixed with five forged nails in a quincunx pattern. Each hinge node has five knuckles. b. Between the wings of the upper altarpiece, the hinge blade is rectangular, embedded (wedged into a slot) in the outer surface of the frame of the right narrow wing, nailed in place by four vertically aligned forged nails. The knuckles have been cut off; each blade presented one or two knuckles. a b