FRAME DESIGN


Meaning of FRAME DESIGN in English

decorative treatment of frames for mirrors and pictures. Before the 15th century in Europe, frames hardly existed separately from their architectural setting and, with the altarpieces or the predellas they surrounded, formed an integral part of the decorative scheme of the church interior. Such frames were frequently burnished with gold leaf. During the 15th century, when paintings were more generally used as secular wall decorations and domestic furnishings, frames began to be designed independently of their surroundings. A type of Italian picture frame with exuberant wood carving evolved during the Baroque period, remained fashionable for a long time, and has never been completely abandoned. Carved wood frames with a swept outline, introduced in the 17th century, remained popular in France throughout the reign of Louis XV. During the 1740s, English mirror frames in the heavy Palladian architectural style began to give way to more delicate designs that were much influenced by French Rococo examples. During the Neoclassical period in the last third of the 18th century, both on the Continent and in England, there was a return to simpler outlines and a greater austerity in frame ornament. Composition and plaster frames became popular. After the first two decades of the 19th century, frame design for both mirrors and pictures became increasingly eclectic, many being based on styles of the previous century. In the 20th century the trend has been toward an ever-increasing simplicity, to complement contemporary paintings, mirrors, and architecture. The use of plain, minimal-width frames, as well as materials such as metals and moulded plastic, reflects this movement. Ornamental molded frames, however, have retained their popularity in the 20th century for use with older paintings.

Britannica English vocabulary.      Английский словарь Британика.