Reverse cassetta frame
Unknown Artist
ca. 1630
Medium
Oak. Carved, gilt; brown-red bole, dragon's blood.
Dimensions
Overall: 10 5/8 × 12 3/8 in. (27 × 31.5 cm) Sight: 5 11/16 × 7 3/8 in. (14.5 × 18.7 cm) Rabbet: 6 5/16 × 8 1/8 in. (16 × 20.6 cm)
Classification
Frames
Culture
Southern French
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.2349
Art Historical Context
This exquisite **Reverse Cassetta Frame**, crafted around 1630 in Southern France, exemplifies the artistry of 17th-century frame-making, when ornate surrounds were as vital to paintings as the canvases they held. Housed in the Robert Lehman Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, oak frame measures about 10½ by 12⅜ inches overall, with a sight size of roughly 5¾ by 7 inches—perfect for a small portrait or devotional panel. The "reverse cassetta" adapts the classic Italian Renaissance cassetta profile, flipping its deep, recessed moldings for a bolder, more sculptural effect that draws t...