The Italian Cassetta Frame

Italian, circa 1600 reverse section, painted black, cassetta frame, with gilded ogee inner section and astragal outer moulding, bordering a frieze with gilded arabesque ornaments. Frame ref: 12765

Copyright Arnold Wiggins & Sons

The cassetta, frame is defined by a flat inner frieze bordered by raised mouldings on the inner and outer edges.
The section is derived from the entablature, the uppermost horizontal side of the architectural tabernacle frame, and is made up of a raised cornice, frieze, and architrave mouldings.
Although the cassetta frame style was ubiquitous in Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries, the profile, decorative motifs, and craftsmanship employed often demonstrate distinct regional characteristics.
The section of the frame illustrated is delineated by gilded mouldings, the black frieze ornamented with gilded arabesque. The frame is probably Tuscan.

EXAMPLES OF PAINTINGS FRAMED IN ITALIAN CASSETTA FRAMES

Lorenzo Lotto: The Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Nicholas of Tolentino. The National Gallery, London

Mattia Preti, The Game of Draughts. Ashmolean, Oxford

Bartolomé Estebán Murillo, Don Andrés de Andrade y la Cal, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York