Framed!

One of the lovely things about living in a city with great galleries and museums is that you can return to the free exhibits a few times, and really see all there is to be seen.

A few days ago I made my second visit to the National Gallery of Victoria's 'European Painting 17th-18th C' collection. It's an enjoyably overwhelming experience, being dwarfed by the giant paintings on their vast walls. Last time, I had focused on the paintings themselves (and as a music history nerd, enjoyed seeing the portraits of Farinelli and Boccherini).

This time, I was fascinated by the paintings' frames! My parents run a picture-framing shop, so this is a bit of a theme for us when we visit galleries - we've been known to spend more time discussing the frames than the art inside.

I took photos of some of the fabulous Baroque and Rococo frames in this collection (I was allowed as long as I didn't use flash). It was difficult, but I managed to cull them down to a mere thirteen to share...

(click photos to enlarge)