Reverse frame
Unknown Artist
1680–1700
Medium
Poplar
Dimensions
Overall: 26 3/8 × 21 5/8 in. (67 × 55 cm) Sight: 19 7/16 × 14 1/2 in. (49.3 × 36.8 cm) Rabbet: 20 15/16 × 16 1/4 in. (53.2 × 41.2 cm)
Classification
Frames
Culture
Italian, Rome
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.2187
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Reverse frame*, crafted in Rome between 1680 and 1700, exemplifies the masterful woodworking traditions of late Baroque Italy. Made from poplar—a lightweight, easily carved wood favored by Italian framemakers for its workability—the frame measures 26 3/8 × 21 5/8 inches overall, with a sight size of 19 7/16 × 14 1/2 inches, designed to elegantly encase a painting or mirror. Now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Robert Lehman Collection (acquired in 1975), it invites us to appreciate frames not merely as supports, but as standalone artworks that enhanced the grandeur of e...