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

325 ANTWERP, ROYAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (RMFA) 1. Anonymous, wing with the Annunciation and the Coronation of the Virgin , pre-Eyckian (heavily overpainted) Inv. no. 516 a-b Provenance: unknown. Van Ertborn legacy in 1841. Bibliography: Vandenbroeck 1985, 21-23; Verougstraete-Marcq 1988, 9-21. Panel and frame: three vertical boards (in resinous wood?), butt-joined. Each join is reinforced with two thick, short dowels. Integral frame. Each of the two wide outer boards of this work, which is probably the wing of a dismantled early altarpiece (heavily overpainted), has a defect running from top to bottom (heart shake or growth rings that have come apart?). This defect was known when the support was produced, and was remedied on the Coronation side by gluing a series of little pieces of canvas of ± 4 cm high and 5 to 7 cm wide. The same type of reinforcement is applied to the joins. The superposing of the pieces of canvas is reflected where they meet in the paint layer in the form of wide, horizontal cracks. On top of these local reinforcements, another canvas has been glued to the entire support and frame on the Coronation side. This canvas is irregularly woven and reinforced with various small pieces. It was originally turned over and nailed to the side of the frame. In some places it even extends onto the other side (with the Annunciation ). A few small pieces of canvas have been glued to this reverse, but in general the wood has received a layer of ground without other intermediate layer. The vertical cracking in the paint layer on the reverse reflects the direction of the fibres of the wood. The canvas has had a positive influence on the conservation process, by acting as a buffer between the paint layers and the play of the support. On the Annunciation side on the other hand, the play of the wood has produced some major gaps. The original joinery has undergone a certain number of restorations. The lower rail of the frame was remade, probably in the 19th century. Other inserts are visible in the X-radiograph: two in the upper right corner ( Coronation side), and one in the upper edge. The location of these restorations reflects the points of weakness, linked probably to wear provoked by the use of the panel as a wing.