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

83 The appearance of frames results from the interaction between the various modes of expression: painting, sculpture and architecture. On the most refined works, effects obtained by one technique are translated in an illusionist manner into another technique, as illustrated by the case of grisaille (creating the illusion of stone statuary) on closed wings. The frame, with its mouldings, its painted or real mitres, its polychromy and its carved decoration, borrows from architecture and sculpture. This wealth of means of expression is obviously not purely formal, but conveys a complex system of contents and symbols. This issue is discussed in the chapter devoted to articulated works. A. Mouldings and other carved decoration Right down into the 18th century, the mouldings of painting frames followed the mouldings used in architecture. André-Jacob Roubo recommends: “And moreover in the decoration of joinery we should use only profiles recognized and commonly used by the Masters of the Art, that is to say the architects, so as not to give rise to novelties, which are nearly always pernicious.” 1 Alongside the joints, the moulding is an essential element of the joinery of frames. In their evolution the two elements are linked. As mouldings diversified and became more complex in the 16th century, so joints simplified. We discuss these two developments in detail elsewhere in this book. CHAPTER IV CARVED AND PAINTED DECORATION 1. Roubo 1977, 45. Fig. 38. Main mouldings used in frames between the late 14th and early 17th centuries. 1. Quarter- round or ovolo moulding. 2. Cavetto. 3-4. Ogee mouldings (French texts distinguish between the “doucine” moulding (no. 3) and the “talon” moulding (no. 4)). 5. Gorge. 6. Baguette or beading. 7. Listel. 8. Stepped moulding. 9. Waved moulding (not to be confused with the waved mouldings of the 17th and 18th centuries, cut perpendicular to the grain, for which complex machines were developed at an early stage). 10. Inclined sill.