A Bounty of Frames in the National Gallery of Art
J. Russell Sale, senior lecturer, department of adult programs
Steve Wilcox, senior conservator of frames
The great paintings in the National Gallery of Art are accompanied by an equally striking collection of frames. Like the pictures they enhance, these frames vary tremendously in style, materials, and ornamentation. Contrary to what visitors may presume, most of the frames on paintings in the Gallery are not original to the works they now surround. A few of our early pictures on wooden panels do include frames that were integral to the picture, and have never been separated since their paintings' creation. There is a very small group of works with detachable frames that were either designed for a particular painting or chosen for it when it was first hung. Other pictures bear frames from the same period in which the works were produced (so-called period frames) or frames intended to imitate a period frame, but made later. Most common are paintings displayed in frames from later periods.
Bernardo Daddi, Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels, 1330s, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection