1985.R.79.b, Picture Frame, Italy, c. 1550

The independent easel picture was an Italian invention of the 15th century, and quickly came to dominate the idea of "art" in the Renaissance. An equally new kind of furniture was developed in order to house these new portable "illusions." The picture frame is now so ubiquitous that one forgets that, like all familiar forms, it was an invention. Although frames were originally conceived to protect the picture physically and enhance it aesthetically, their invention led gradually to the creation of a separate type of craft associated more often with furniture making than with the creation of pictures themselves.

This particular frame is in exceptionally good condition. Its fine state was undoubtedly one of the reasons why it was included in the most important frame exhibition of the 20th century, held in Paris in 1931. The frame preserves its original format, having never been cut down or enlarged for another painting. The simple delicacy of its proportions and its fine carving suggest that it housed an important work of art, which most probably had complex forms and colors that needed to be offset by a simple surround. Frames like this one are often called "Giorgione frames" because they relate to the simple surrounds created for the precious religious and allegorical paintings of Venetian Renaissance painter, Giorgio del Castelfranco.

Dallas Museum of Art, Decorative Arts Highlights from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 62.

- Image of this frame not found/entered in TMS under the accession number 1985.R.79.b, but the physical frame can be found in Reves' storage framing the ink drawing "Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum" by Vincent Van Gogh (1985.R.79). Image of frame does not exist in Brain or Piction. 

TMS Updates that need to be added once frame is entered into TMS: 

          Guggenheim, Michel Angelo. Le cornici italiane dall metà del secolo XVo allo scorcio del XVIo; con breve testo riassuntivo intorno alla storia ed all'importanza delle cornici. Milano: U. Hoepli, 1897.

Until 1985: Emery Reves (1904-1983) and Wendy Reves (1916-2007) (owned jointly), La Pausa, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France [1]

From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, gift of Wendy Reves (1916-2007) [1]

[1] According to: Olivier Meslay and Martha MacLeod, From Chanel to Reves (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 2015), 4-5.

Apply to objects where number equals 1985.R.79.b