Originally the purpose of these cradles was to hold a straightened
panel flat while avoiding splits through the use of sliding crossbars. The
straightening was carried out by thinning, the wood being first prepared
by applying damp linen cloths to introduce moisture to the wood, then let-
ting it dry under pressure and, if neccesary, inserting pieces of wood to
prev ent it from resuming its previous curvature. In general, the back sides
of cradled panels present open worm tunnels, which allow the extent of
the thinning to be assessed and the original thickness of the support to be
deduced with more or less certainty. Moreover, cradling helps consolidate
splits when crossbars are placed on both sides of a split.
The double function ofstraightening and repairing splits is
included in Mérimée’s major text of 1830, which talks of the “bars” of
thecradle: “When a panel is split or is crooked, it is corrected by gluing
behind what is called a cradle; this is a lattice of silver fir to w hich only part
of the bars are glued, those which are in the direction of the grain of wood
ofthe panel. The crossbarsareheld by the former in notches made in their
thickness,in which they are engaged. They are not glued to the panel, for
since the movement of the wood is always working on the width, they
would not adhere there solidly; they serve only through their pressure to
hold the panel so it can no longer be crooked” (Mérimée 1830:260).
In 1851 Horsin-Déon praised the work of the French cradlers, illus-
trated by the work of Constant in Paris, in whose hands the cradle was a
creation of rare elegance carried out with unequaled lightness and perfec-
tion. He also spoke of the “uprights” glued in the direction of the grain and
ofthe mobile crossbars in the uprights. The Gruyer report of 1882 also
mentions recradling, which shows that cradles already existed and that their
use, according to Chapuis, remained current.^49
In 1909 Meusnier discussed the quality of work of the cradler
and spoke of “support” slats (glued in the direction of the grain of the
wood) and the mobile crossbars that are engaged in the former (Meusnier
1909:31–33). This is the first text to mention the “odd pieces, thin sheets
ofhard wood” inserted into the cavities after straightening and drying,
in order to hold the whole thing flat, which corresponds to what is now
probably called sverzatura (Bergeon 1976:20, 1990:20). Meusnier also dis-
tinguished between those mobile cradles “ofabsolutely French origin,270 Bergeon, Emile-Mâle, Huot, and Baÿ
Figure 1
Peter Paul Rubens, La Kermesse, ca. 1636–38.
Reverse. Louvre Museum (inv. 1797), Paris.
Sliding cradle of the Hacquin type, with slats
glued in the grain direction and mobile cross-
bars running against the grain. The first slid-
ing cradle for this painting was placed in 1770
by Jean-Louis Hacquin. The cradle was
redone by François-Toussaint Hacquin in
1825; perhaps it was then that the simple
slats were replaced by slats ornamented
with moldings.