This dissertation explores the function and role of the frame through the history of art. A dialogue between humans, images and the decorative space or object, the frame has long been essential to the exhibition of an artwork. This unique object can only exist through the presence of another element: the painting. The frame is indissociable from representation. However, today’s painters are seeking to free themselves from these limits; art should be accessible, it should invade its surroundings. What, then, does the future hold for the frame?