A Tabernacle Frame
Certain paintings can't be fit with just any frame. For artist Lorenzo Monaco's 15th-century panel painting, pictured below, Lowy was called upon to create a frame that curved with the work's rounded top half and rectangular bottom half. The resulting tabernacle frame draws on the architecture of Gothic churches, which combined classical motifs including arched columns with patterns and proportions that became popular during and after the Renaissance. In its design, the frame echoes the hybrid style of the painting. Making this frame was particularly challenging because the panel had curved over a long period of time. Such curving is a common phenomenon: Panels and other surfaces used by artists, especially those involving wood, will often adopt a new shape after a few years according to the natural movements of the material. This required Lowy's artisans to design a frame that not only fit the unique shape of the panel but also looked like it had warped along with the panel.
