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of properties
that enable it to be used—even to be the material of choice—
for thousands of different purposes, including the constitution
ofpanels on which to paint. However, it presents the would-be user with a
few minor problems, one of which is that nature delivers it to us in the
round, whereas most of its uses require aflat surface. Hence, one ofthe
tasks that woodworkers have faced throughout the ages is the conversion
of round trunks or logs into flat beams or boards with square edges. This
has been achieved by cleaving (Fig. 1), hewing (Fig. 2), sawing (Fig. 3), or a
combination ofthese techniques.
Cleaving, which may be the oldest method, can be done with
simple wedges, nowadays usually made of metal, even though wooden ones
can be just as effective; with handled wedges, which look like axes but have
important differences in their construction; or with a long, knifelike tool
called a froe or riving knife (Fig. 4). It is distinctly possible, at least for the
smaller and more modest paintings, that panels were produced by a cleaving
or riving process similar to that still used for making roof shingles (Fig. 5).Philip Walker
The Making of Panels
History of Relevant Woodworking Tools and Techniques
Figure 1
Monks cleaving tree trunks, ca. 1100. It is
likely that this rather knotty log is being split
for firewood; nevertheless, the same tech-
nique was used to get boards for woodwork-
ing purposes. With a series of wedges, often
themselves made of wood, flat slabs can be
produced that require only alittle work with
an adze or a plane to true and smooth them.
Note that the tool held by the smaller monk
is a handled wedge, not an ax; most axes
would soon be ruined by pounding, even
witha wooden maul, and in anycase they
were too slim to act as effective wedges.
S. Gregorius Magnus,Moralia in Job,part 2,
Cîteaux, twelfth century. Manuscript illumina-
tion. Bibliothèque Municipale de Dijon,
Dijon, France.