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

BRUGES, GROENINGE MUSEUM 421 4. Brussels Anonymous, Man of Sorrows and Mater Dolorosa , last quarter 15th century Inv. nos. 0000.GRO0201.I-0202.I Provenance: Dr. Merchie Collection. Acquired in 1903 by the Friends of the Museum and offered to the City. Bibliography: De Vos 1982, 136-137. Panels: in each case a single board, painted in the frame. The reverses were painted in black (now heavily damaged). Frames: the original nature of the frames was questioned in the 1982 catalogue. This is probably due to the reworking of the polychromy (total stripping and poor gilding applied directly to the wood without any preparatory layer). The frames are, however, original. They carry the Brussels joiners’ mark (compass and plane), struck into the wood at the left butt-end of the lower rail (left frame) and at the right butt-end of the lower rail (right frame). Dovetail joints at the top, with pegging. The bottom joint probably through mortise and tenon, unpegged. The sides do not exhibit any traces of hinges. Nor have they been planed back, as the original joiner’s marking has remained.