Editing Jan van Eyck (section)

===Frames===
[[File:Portrait of Isabella of Portugal van Eyck.jpg|left|thumb|Copy of a van Eyck, ''[[Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (van Eyck)|Portrait of Isabella of Portugal]]'' (original lost). Private collection]]
Exceptionally for his time, van Eyck often signed and dated his frames,<ref name="j21">Jones (2011), 21</ref> then considered an integral part of the work –
the two were often painted together, and while the frames were constructed by a body of craftsmen separate to the master's workshop, their work was often considered as equal in skill to that of the painter.

He designed and painted the frames for his single head portraits to look like imitation stone, with the signature or other inscriptions giving the impression that they had been chiseled into the stone. The frames serve other illusionistic purposes; in ''[[Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (van Eyck)|Portrait of Isabella of Portugal]]'', described by the frame,<ref>The inscription says in French: L'INFANTE DAME ISABIEL – C'est la pourtraiture qui fu envoiié à Ph[ilipp]e duc de bourgoingne et de brabant de dame ysabel fille de Roy Jehan de portugal et d'algarbe seigneur de septe (Ceuta) par luy conquise qui fu depuis fem[m]e et espeuse du desus dit duc ph[ilipp]e.</ref> her eyes gaze coyly but directly out of the painting, as she rests her hands on the edge of a faux stone parapet. With this gesture Isabella extends her presence out of the pictorial space and into that of the viewer.<ref name="p110" />

Many of the original frames are lost and known only through copies or inventory records. The London ''[[Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?)|Portrait of a Man]]'' was likely half of a double portrait or pendant; the last record of the original frames contained many inscriptions, but not all were original; the frames were often overpainted by later artists.<ref name="c32" /> ''[[Portrait of Jan de Leeuw]]'' also bears its original frame, which is painted over to look like bronze.<ref name="bauman35">Bauman (1986), 35</ref>

Many of his frames are heavily inscribed, which serves a dual purpose. They are decorative but also function to set the context for the significance of the imagery, similar to the function of margins in medieval manuscripts. Pieces such as the ''Dresden Triptych'' were usually commissioned for private devotion, and van Eyck would have expected the viewer to contemplate text and imagery in unison.<ref name="s146">Smith, 146</ref> The interior panels of the small 1437 ''[[Dresden Triptych]]'' are outlined with two layers of painted bronze frames, inscribed with mostly Latin lettering. The texts are drawn from a variety of sources, in the central frames from biblical descriptions of the [[Assumption of Mary|assumption]], while the inner wings are lined with fragments of prayers dedicated to saints [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] and [[Catherine of Alexandria|Catherine]].<ref name="Streeton">Streeton, Noëlle L.W. "[http://www.jhna.org/index.php/past-issues/vol-3-1/136-janvaneycksdresden Jan van Eyck's Dresden Triptych: new evidence for the Giustiniani of Genoa in the Borromei ledger for Bruges, 1438]". ''Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art'', Volume 3, Issue 1, 2011.</ref><!-- in Dhanens too; get pg numbers -->