Frames evolved from the borders fitted around tomb paintings which appeared 3000 to 4000 years ago. Later they appeared on mosaics, enclosing narrative scenes and decorative panels. The gold and gems of early altar frames suggested the glories of Heaven. The elaborate altarpieces developed in fourteenth and fifteenth century Italy were intended to emphasise the beauty of paradise and the bliss to be found on earth.
Time takes its toll, and very few frames from that far back have survived, because of the natural materials used in the production of those frames. Most have been eaten by beetles, dried out, cracked, crumbled and destroyed when handled without the proper care. We now reap the consequences, having few examples of the mediaeval and mannerist frames produced in the 16th and 17th centuries, in the Netherlands, Brittany, Italy or Spain.
While the main goal of Anastasia Alexander Art Restoration is to conserve and restore frames, there are occasions when an antique frame needs to be almost totally remoulded and reconstructed.
Our patterns are modelled on confirmed historical precedents, and we use many different techniques to achieve historical accuracy, where necessary referring to photographs and searching through our library of historical books in order to achieve accurate detail and production methods.
Occasionally, for the production of replicas, we will also create our patterns from an original antique frame or a section of an antique frame.
Anastasia Alexander Art Restoration will be glad to assist you in any of your requirements, whether that should be a small broken corner, partial reconstruction, or the entire remoulding of a frame.
