in which our workers have achieved perfection, followed by Italy and
Flanders,” and the fixed, so-called simplified cradles for small pictures
painted “on thin mahogany or tulipwood.... Cradles with glued [hence
fixed] battens can also be applied to the back side of pictures painted on
metal (copper and zinc)” (Meusnier 1909:33–35).
In 1938 Mouseionreferred to the main purpose of the cradle as a
remedy for curving or warping and mentioned the old, classical, so-called
flat cradle, which is, in fact, French (Mouseion1938:241–42). Various draw-
backs were noted, among which are the risk of breakage on both sides of
the glued slats, which are too strong in relation to the original support. In
this text there is mention, for the first time, of another kind of cradle de
chant,then called de champ,with crossbars placed on their narrow side.^50
The purpose of this type of placement is to reduce the surface area given to
gluing and hence to stress, while increasing the resistance of the crossbars.
The cradle is a common intervention performed by cabinetmak-
ers, such as Paul Maridat and Roger Castor, and by other specialists in
wood who are “skillful at making cradles.” René Bertin, who worked for
Chauffrey back in 1945, is credited with having a role in their development
(Rostain 1994). Cradles were also made by reliners in the Maison Leguay,
such as Puget, in 1924.
It is difficult to get a clear overall idea of this subject. Reliners
make cradles, while cabinetmakers do transfers and relining. The division
between the two crafts is unclear, particularly since transfer, a major opera-
tion for wooden supports, often consists of replacing the wood with canvas.
The history ofthe cradle shows that while it started as a func-
tional object, it eventually became an aesthetic one (Marijnissen 1967:46).
Every painting on wood must present a cradle on the reverse, often of
mahogany, sometimes of oak. It presents fixed bars, and the whole is care-
fully “patinated old wood.” The cradle is sometimes nothing but an orna-
ment without a functional role, for it is even found on the backs of some
new stabilized wooden supports.Backing
Backing is the addition of a new support on the back of an older support
ofa painting whose original wooden support still exists, at least partially,
but has undergone thinning. The date of the beginning of this interven-
tion is very uncertain. In 1909 Meusnier says that a little painting can have
a double support “backed with strong glue” (Meusnier 1909:33). What
wasthe newsupport? Likely it was wood, similar to the woods that were
chosen for transferred paintings.
There are so many cases of paintings backed and then cradled
that, in a cursory examination, the addition of a backing may escape the
attention of the nonexpert.^51 The wood chosen is often solid oak, walnut,
or mahogany; the panel is then equipped with a superb plain, “aesthetic”
cradle of oak or mahogany, with glued slats.
It would be helpful to follow the possible uses of the so-called
anhygrometric inert support, a discovery made in 1845 by Tachet, who
took out a patent in Paris for it (Volle 1989:12). This support was com-
posed of “alternating sheets of wood, impregnated with shellac, squeezed
and heated to a fusion of the shellac and then pressed.” This description
corresponds to the beginnings of plywood, which is certified as an original
support ofpainting, at least by Victor Mottez in about 1860 (Portrait de sonW P S: T H Y H F 271