ABSTRACT
The stretcher is integral to the history of oil painting on canvas. The stretcher, or strainer, functions as the framework used for stretching a canvas support and tensioning it to keep it in plane for the optimal viewing and display of a painting. The conservator categorizes a stretcher or strainer as an auxiliary support. The primary support for an oil painting would typically be a wood panel or canvas fabric. A cradle or lining fabric would be described as a secondary support. Corner joinery is typically half lap or butt joint. Cross-members may be added to the fixed framework; the corner joints are often further reinforced by corner or cross braces of wood or metal and have no provisions for tensioning the canvas after it has been mounted on the strainer. The history of stretchers as auxiliary supports for canvas paintings naturally follows the history of painting on fabric.
