Frame

Angels and cherubs are the dominant decorative devices on this carved wood frame. Symmetrically arranged, the figures’ ascending composition indicates the frame’s proper alignment. They are dressed in tunics and gowns with decorated borders and hanging tassles, usually found in angel costumes from the 16th and 17th century. The blue wings rise above their heads and lend these beings a lightness that is also evident in their movement.
On the frame’s top and bottom, shorter than the sides, are more symmetrically arranged angels, though here they are clothed in garments that billow at the edges. In the lower section, they hold vines and bunches of grapes. This symbolism leads us to consider that this frame may have been meant for a painting of some allegorical aspect of the Eucharist, specifically the consecration of the wine.
The care that went into the conception and the execution of this work can be seen both in the way it is finished (pearls alternating with short rods, rows of water-leaf and ovals) and the treatment given to the triangles within the frame with groups of tiny cherubs and the ones that mark the corners with larger cherub heads.