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

Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium 587 30. Antoon Claeissens (attributed to), Triptych of Ontañeda de Hertoghe. Closed: Arms of the Ontañeda, Hertoghe and families related by marriage, partially overpainted on the left. Open: centre: Virgin and Child ; wings: St Francis of Assisi receiving the Stigmata ; Francisco de Ontañeda , between 1570 and 1591 Inv. no. 2594 Provenance: acquired from Duke Engelbert d’Arenberg in 1873. Comes from the Parish Church of Heilig-Kruis, Heusden (Ghent). Bibliography: Van den Bergen-Pantens et al. 1980-1981, 59-80; Pauwels 1984, 55. Panels: two vertical boards for the central panel, one each for the wings. Frames: central frame rebated. All joints are slotted joints, cut square on the outside of the wings and on the reverse of the central frame, mitred on the inside (except for the top rails of the wings where the cut is square on both the outside and the inside). On the outside, the square cuts are vertical at the bottom and horizontal at the top. There may be a woodworking reason for this. In this sort of joint, the final adjustment with a chisel is done on the tenon. This is technically easier on a straight piece than on a curved − and therefore also weaker − one. The joints of the central frame each have two pegs, those of the wings single pegs. The frame of the central panel is wider and thicker than those of the wings. Hanging/holding hole in the upper rail. The black and gold polychromy has been redone (following the original pattern?).