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

catalogue 652 15. Anonymous, Christ Appearing to the Holy Women , c. 1600 Inv. no. S/153/O Bibliography: Crab 1977, 221; Verougstraete and Van Schoute 1988, 475-476. Canvas: original mounting between a stretcher and a frame. The frame is in oak, the stretcher in softwood (?). The stretcher is built and assembled independently. It includes, in addition to the two stiles and two rails, one horizontal and one vertical cross-piece. All joints of the stretcher are half-lap and pegged with small pegs of circular cross-section. The frame is applied to the face and pegged to the stretcher with large square pegs, crossing through the fabric and holding it in place. There may be a reason for the square pegs: the slots may have been cut with a chisel rather than being drilled in order not to pull the canvas with the rotating movement of a drill. At the rear, small nails driven around the perimeter of the stretcher next to the square pegs strengthen the assembly and help keep the canvas in place. The latter, particularly rigid, has the appearance of oilcloth; it appears to have been impregnated (from the beginning?). Black and gold polychromy.