Typologies of eighteenth century wood-carved frames

Abstract

The aim of my work is to give a general understanding of the different typologies of wood carved frames during the Baroque era. Picture and frame are mutually dependent, the one incomplete without the other and therefore the frame is a fundamental addition to the picture it surrounds and one that affects it profoundly. A frame can easily diverge the attention on or away from the painting hence its design, decoration and its finish are important considerations. Throughout the years, many books have been written about painting and sculpture and only a few on frames. This shows the lack of importance the frame has been given and furthermore little information is available on Maltese frames and frame making in Malta. This topic has never been researched in detail and information is limited to a few documents and some archival records. Another problem is that a number of old frames do not surround their original painting and have either been cut down or enlarged. Moreover in some cases, the mouldings were also changed. A number of frames were also repainted or newly mounted making it harder to place such frames in their stylistic context. A corpus of paintings have been selected to highlight the main typologies of Baroque frames. These were taken from various private collections including the Grand Master's Palace and major museum collections such as the National Museum of Fine Arts and the Wignacourt Collegiate Museum. The dissertation begins with an introduction on the different typologies found in Maltese collections. The process of gilding and a short note on wood are also included, since these would help to understand certain techniques described later on in the dissertation. A

historical survey is also given in the introduction, this gives a short description on how the modern frame developed and also gives an account on how the baroque frame developed in Europe especially in Italy and France. Since most Maltese frames were influenced by these countries, it would also help place the Maltese frames in context with what was happening in Europe. The rest of the dissertation is separated in five chapters in which the different typologies are divided and described in detail. The first chapter is dedicated to richly carved portrait frames, focusing mainly on the palatial frames, whilst the second part of this chapter is dedicated to large history frames. Chapter two focuses on the three most popular typologies found in Maltese collections whilst chapter three and four deal with the different techniques used to embellish the baroque frame and give various examples of painted and inlaid frames. The final chapter is dedicated to oval frames and a short note about mirror frames in Malta is also included. Since the form and the decorations of frame were derived from structural and ornamental architectural elements, architectural terminology is used to describe frames, and to have a better understanding of the topic a glossary of the main terms is included at the end of this dissertation. Each frame is described in specific detail and the description starts from the outside mouldings to the inner side of the frame. The material of only a few frames is mentioned since wood is hard to identify and for accurate analysis chemical testing is required. Nevertheless a short note about wood is also provided in the introduction. This study will hopefully contribute to a better knowledge on the decorative arts during the Baroque times, as well as to give a good overview of the different Baroque frames in Malta.