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

CHAPTER X 268 We have noted around 10 slotted joints, mitred either on both faces or at the front only, in the works of Hans Memling or in Bruges works of his day. The version with the tenon shoulder mitred at the back is found in the Boston Christ Blessing , and in the wings of the St John Altarpiece (Bruges, SJH , no. 1 ) (fig. 138: 1) . The version with the tenon shoulder cut square at the back exists in the Christ at the Column , the Moreel Triptych , the central part of the St John Altarpiece , the central part of the Floreins Triptych (Bruges, SJH , no. 2 ), the Portrait of a Woman , known as The Sibyl Sambetha (Bruges, SJH , no. 3 ), and the Reins Triptych (Bruges, SJH , no. 4 ) (fig. 138: 2). The mitred dovetail joint is a simple variant of the dovetail joint (fig. 138: 3). It can already be found in the Braque Triptych by Rogier van der Weyden (Paris, Louvre, inv. no. R.F. 2063). We have encountered it predominantly in Brussels works, eight times out of ten and six times associated with the Brussels joiners’ brand (plane and compass). It is found here in the wing of the Floreins Triptych. Fig. 139. Glued half- lap joint. Mortise and tenon joint, tenon on the upright, tenon shoulder angled to inclined sill, with mixed cut. These two joints are found together in the Maarten van Nieuwenhove Diptych. The joints at the top of the diptych are glued half-lap joints, without pegging (fig. 139). This is exceptional for its time (joints are almost always pegged). This is the only case observed in Memling. One can ask what is the meaning of the holes (peg holes) visible in each of the upper sides of the frames. Given the weakness of the upper joints, it is unlikely that the diptych was hung. Rather, the solid mortise and tenon joints at the bottom of the frame suggest that it was stood on a support. One can ask whether this diptych was not presented in a more or less fixed manner (e.g. placed on a pedestal?). Examination of the woodwork does not provide any clues to the original disposition or use of this diptych, which is constructed differently from the others, and the moulding of which does not include the listel which had become standard in the works of the same period.