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

MASTERS AND MASTERPIECES: The Anchin Polyptych 257 In each case the lower rails have inclined sills. Otherwise, the profiles of the frames of the outside altarpiece differ from those of the inside altarpiece (fig. 128). The gilt frame of the Trinity and of the two flanking panels achieve a perfect visual continuity, with the mouldings of the uprights of the central panel acting visually also as framing of the side panels. Another (narrow) strip of moulding – now lost – must have been glued onto the edges of the flanking panels. This visual continuity obtained by the trick of having the moulding spill over from one frame to another was possibly intended to camouflage the mechanism and contribute to the safety of the reliquary. Fig. 128. Profiles of the frame elements. All the lower rails have inclined sills. a. Frames of the Trinity panel. Left to right: upper rail, stiles (shaded: reconstitution of the supposed moulding glued to the panels of the Virgin and St John the Baptist to get the frame to meet tightly), lower rail. b. Frames of the fixed side panels. Left to right: frames of the Virgin and St John the Baptist; frames around the prior and Charles Coguin. c. Frames of the wings. Fig. 127. Frames: black and gold frame of the right side part, gilded frame of the Trinity. Wooden pegs, and fleuret- shaped nail heads.