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

CHAPTER X 256 When the wings were rotated outwards, the altarpiece presented a flat façade. In this second position, the altarpiece is compartmentalized into five paintings (fig. 126b). The distribution of the three central panels is a little similar to that observed in the Ghent Altarpiece (a central, elevated painting, flanked by lower, narrower paintings). Fig. 126b. The second position of the altarpiece (wings rotated outwards). Reconstitution. The frames are gilt; all parts of the altarpiece are aligned in a carved outer frame. Finally, the third arrangement – the high point – exhibited the ancient gold and silver reliquary by removing the Trinity panel which formed the cover of the box. We suggest below how this was done. 1. Frames and supports The frames of the first position of the altarpiece were black and gold (fig. 127). The frames of the inside altarpiece are decorated with gold leaf. This difference in the polychromy reflects the hierarchy in the iconographic programmes, with the more modest black and gold polychromy of the first position giving away to the bright gilding in the second position, announcing the exhibiting of the reliquary.