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

BRUGES, GROENINGE MUSEUM 431 8. Bruges Anonymous, Adoration of the Magi , c. 1510 Inv. no. 1974.GRO0031.I Provenance: probably decorated the Magi Chapel of the Pardo Family in the Church of St Donatus in Bruges. From 1782 to 1783 appears to have been conserved in the St Julian’s Hospital. In 1798 it became the property of Sebastian Canneel, Director of the Hospital, and his step-son, Louis-Antoine Rijelandt, in 1821. The painting remained in the Rijelandt Family until 1943, then passed through various hands until purchased by the Museum in 1974. A wash painting of the early 19th century (Brussels, Royal Library of Belgium, MS II 3623, part I, f. 34) (Janssens de Bisthoven 1983, pl. XXXIVb ) appears to show the painting in the St Julian’s Hospital with two wings, attributed to Antoon Claeissens and dated 1580 and 1589 respectively. Bibliography: De Vos 1982, 37-38; Janssens de Bisthoven 1983, 40-49, pl. XXVII-XXXV . Panel: five boards, butt-joined with dowels. The panel was slotted into the groove of the frame before painting. On the reverse, the joins are painted over in tempera of red lead and calcium caseinate. In addition, buttons are glued over the joins, on top of the tempera, as can be seen on the X-radiograph (Janssens de Bisthoven 1983, pl. xxxiii ). On the central board, which is fairly worm-eaten: a sort of fork-shaped mark applied with a narrow gouge. Frame: following Janssens de Bisthoven we note that the frame of the Adoration of the Magi has no trace of hinges. This does not preclude its being part of a larger work. Some frames were, for this purpose, integrated into a second, outer frame that served to bear the weight of the wings. The frame is woodwormed. Large pieces of ironwork nailed to the sides strengthen and conceal the joints. Bottom: mortise and tenon (?) reinforced with three pegs, mixed cut at front, cut square at the reverse. Top: slotted joint (?), mitred at front, cut square on the reverse, no pegs. At one stage of the painting’s conservation, the front face of the lower rail was decorated with a text; the 1974 restoration revealed the second part of this text on the lower sill. This was deemed to be an addition by Antoon Claeissens and removed to expose the original polychromy.