They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but what about its frame? At Munich’s Alte Pinakothek, a new exhibition makes the case that the two were once inseparable. In early Italian gold-ground pieces, for example, the panel and frame were often conceived as a single object. By the Renaissance, frames became independent works of art, custom-built to complement each canvas. Over time, however, many Old Master paintings were divorced from their original frames, which were often sold, damaged, or lost to war. Exhibiting masterpieces by Raffael, Leonardo, Botticelli, and Bellini, among others, the show highlights the essential role of framing, whether with period originals or carefully chosen modern counterparts. —Jeanne Malle