The Structural Conservation of Panel Paintings

Among the hundreds of items found in the inventory made after

the death of the widow of panel and frame maker Hans van Haecht

(1557–1621) are thirty-six eight-stuijvers-sized (another seventeenth-

century coin) double frames in a storage room, sixty-eight more of the

same size in the attic, and two dozen small ebony frames (Duverger 1987;

Van Roey 1968).

Members of the various disciplines within the guild of Saint Luke

manufactured articles such as frames that would fit the standard panels

(Wadum 1988; van Thiel and de Bruijn Kops 1995).^26 Standard frames were

also constructed with a groove in which the beveled edge would fit—a

method that originated with the large altar panels. The beveled edges,

often varying slightly in thickness, were kept tight in the frame by means

of wedges (sometimes secured by glue) placed at regular intervals on the

back (Figs 14c, 15). Frames were also made with a rabbet so panels could

H O  P-M T   N C 161

Figure 13
Maarten van Heemskerck, Saint Luke Painting
the Virgin and Child,ca. 1550. Oil on panel,
205.5 3 143.5 cm. Musée des Beaux-Arts
(inv. 307), Rennes. A narrow-grooved frame
mounted at the end grain prevents the small
panel from warping.

Figure 14a–d
Different methods offraming: (a) a panel and
frame in one piece, (b) the frame is mounted
on front ofthe panel with dowels, (c) the
panel is inserted as a tongue in the groove of
the frame and is often secured by wedge-
shaped blocks mounted with glue, (d) the
panel is mounted in the rabbet of the frame
and held with nails.

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