‘Christ on the Cross’ Now Even More Commanding : Art: County Museum’s addition of an elaborate frame emulates the 15th-Century altarpiece’s original installation in a Florence church.

On your next trip to the County Museum of Art, take the elevator to the second floor of the Ahmanson building, step out and look to the right. There, on the far wall of the 15th-Century gallery, is “Christ on the Cross With Saints Mark, John the Baptist, Vincent Ferrer and the Blessed Antoninus,” a brilliantly colored, 6-foot-square altarpiece by an Italian painter known as the Master of the Fiesole Epiphany.

That’s not news. The rare painting has hung in this place of honor since late May, when the museum announced its acquisition. But “Christ on the Cross” has suddenly gained a far more commanding presence. The difference is the addition of an elaborate tabernacle frame, made to order in Florence.

The point of the new frame is to emulate the painting’s original installation in the Dominican monastic church of San Marco in Florence, according to curator Philip Conisbee. Indeed, with its fluted pilasters, carved cornice and floral friezes across the entablature and base, the frame bears more resemblance to architecture than to modern moldings. Hung well above eye level and positioned over a ledge that represents an altar table, the painting appears to be built into the gallery in a context that draws attention to the religious subject matter.

“The evolution of tabernacle frames began in the 13th Century as a transition between the paintings and architecture of churches,” Conisbee said. “These frames were designed to set the world of the painting apart from the world of spectators. At the same time the frames formed a transition between the painting and architecture. There was often a correlation between the style of the frame and the architecture.”

“Christ on the Cross” had no frame when the museum acquired it, but the Ahmanson Foundation, which provided funds to buy the painting, also paid for an appropriate frame. Vintage tabernacle frames are not readily available and no records exist of the painting’s original frame, so Conisbee designed one with the help of a Florentine framemaker. Their research began with examining a group of 15th-Century frames on paintings at the Church of Santo Spirito in Florence. With a wide range of elements and combinations to choose from, Conisbee said he made “an aesthetic judgment” based on what he thought would enhance the painting and work well in the gallery installation.

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The frame was built at Massimo Sernissi’s workshop in Florence, a simple establishment that is well known to Old Master specialists. Like many other shops on the back streets of central Florence, this one is located in an ancient building and its craftsmen labor in a centuries-old tradition, conservator Joseph P. Fronek said.

The craftsmen use well-aged wood (often recycled from old buildings), painstakingly carve it, seal it with rabbit skin glue, apply and sand several coats of gesso to fill holes and smooth irregularities, and finally gild the surface. For the friezes on LACMA’s frame, templates were used to block out decorative elements and the remaining areas were painted a dark blue to complement the painting’s color scheme, Fronek said.

“Christ on the Cross” was thought to have been lost during World War II, but it had actually been in storage for 50 years and appeared on the market last October when a private collector’s estate was liquidated. Fronek spent several months cleaning and restoring the altarpiece before the museum put it on view. The addition of the specially commissioned frame is the final step in the painting’s public presentation.