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

BRUGES, St JOHN’S HOSPITAL 373 7. Anonymous, two wings with Scenes of the Invention of the Cross , late 15th century (parts of a polyptych?) Inv. no. O.SJ0183.I Provenance: at the Bogaerde orphanage until the middle of the 19th century. Bibliography: Lobelle-Caluwé 1987, 90-91. Panels: each wing consists of two vertical boards. The panels are slotted into the grooves of the frames. Frames: mortise and tenon joints, with mixed cut back and front, reinforced with one peg each. One of the tenons has become apparent as a result of wear (3.5 cm long, 1.5 cm thick, in a 1.7 cm wide mortise; the height could not be observed). In the upper side of the Procession of the Crusaders : a peg-hole (destination?). The location of the knuckles of the hinges in the edge of what is supposedly the outside of the wings (red coloured frame) raises questions as to the function and situation of the wings in an ensemble. Usually the knuckle of a hinge is located on the inside edge (gilded frame), where the wing closes on the centre part. The moulding is similar on the front and reverse, but the polychromy differs. On the outside: on the outer flat band, worn polychromy, vermilion and red lake, with alternating large and small flowers stencilled on; on the moulding: oil gilding on whitish ground; in the cavetto: blue on black background. Inside: gold leaf, placed on a brownish base and a thick ground. A little outside edge was painted black. This little black edge is evocative of the development of outside mouldings in Bruges frames of Memling’s day. Remains of black overpaintings on the ensemble.