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

catalogue 602 Ghent, Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) 1. Ghent Anonymous, Wenemaer Altarpiece ( Nativity Triptych ), c. 1480 Inv. no. 1903 I Provenance: the former Wenemaersgodhuis (Wenemaer Chapel) in Ghent. Entrusted to the Museum by the Public Welfare Commission in 1890. Bibliography: De Bruyn 1975, 181-182, no. 22. Panels: the central panel consists of three horizontally-placed boards, each wing of three vertically-placed boards. The boards are butt-joined with dowels (visible in an open join). Each panel has a barbe and unpainted edges. The wings are slightly bevelled on the front; the edges of the central panel have been rebated from the back to fit into the groove of the frame and the resulting shoulder has then been bevelled. Frames: grooved: mortise and tenon joints, with mixed cuts at the front and cut square at the back. Damage to the lower right corner has revealed the tenon, which measures 6.5 cm long, 4.2 cm wide and 1.5 cm thick. The pegs are thicker in the central part (1 cm) than in the wings (0.8 cm). The outer stiles of the wings are each rebated to a depth of 1 cm to enable the wings to close tightly; the central frame has a sort of rebate, which is original, with traces of recesses for hinges. The central frame is less wide than the sum of the widths of the two wings. A modern addition serves to correct this difference. We no longer have any clues as to the original articulation with the wings. The wings have in their upper rails holding holes allowing them to be fixed in an open position. A lock was fixed on the right wing. A few remains of original polychromy − green, gold, blue, red − on the mouldings of the frames.