Historic Picture Frames at the AGO

The Art Gallery of Ontario is home to a collection of over 1,000 picture frames, dating from the late 1400s to the late 1800s. The frames were given to the museum by an anonymous donor in the 1990s. The collection represents a broad range of makers and techniques, with frames from Italy, Spain, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and beyond. The frames function as a remarkable study collection for the history of this artform, and are also put to use: the AGO has re-framed many of our paintings so that the frame and painting come from the same place of origin and time period.

We are working on updating the cataloguing for these frames. If you have questions or suggestions, you can email [email protected].