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

catalogue 528 8. Jan Mostaert, Triptych of Albrecht Adriaensz. van Adrichem, Alderman of Haarlem ( c. 1474-1555). Closed: St Veronica ; Donor. Open: central panel: Descent from the Cross ; wings: The Mocking of Christ , late 15th/ early 16th century Inv. no. 3466 Provenance: probably produced for the donor’s chapel in the Collegiate Church of St Bavo in Haarlem. Acquired from the heirs of Count Florent d’Oultremont de Warfusée, Brussels, 1899. Bibliography: Pauwels 1984, 204. Panels: central panel − painted in the frame − consists of three boards; the wings of two each. The central panel was originally inserted into the frame in three different ways. The rectilinear edges are rebated on one side to fit into the groove of the frame which was 1.2 cm deep. The back lips of the grooves have been removed to extract the panel for treatment. In the first curve, the panel is bevelled at the back and slotted into the groove of the frame. The upper arc of the panel is not thinned but was, from the outset, placed flat against the rebate of the frame. This results in a part-grooved, part-rebated frame. The buttons and paint layer on the reverse are not original. Frames: frame of the central panel: the scalloped part is joined to the stiles with a mortise and tenon end-to-end joint, reinforced with a peg. While it was not possible to observe the underside of the lower rail, the lower joints appear to be mortise and tenon, with the tenon shoulder of the stiles angled to the inclined sill, with two pegs in each joint. Frames of the wings: on the outside of the triptych, the frame is applied and pegged to the support. The elements of the applied frame are joined to each other with half-lap joints with a mixed cut and, in one case, cut square. On the inside, the frame is cut into the wood (integral frame). The outer sides of the wings are rebated to fit flush to each other on closing. On the side of the bevelled upper rail of the wings, an iron fitting − possibly original − strengthens the joint. Old, non-original hanging device. The polychromy is not original.