Passe-partout

In the picture framing industry, a mat is a thin, flat piece of paper-based material included within a picture frame, which serves as additional decoration and to perform several other, more practical functions, such as separating the art from the glass. Putting mats in a frame is called matting, a term which can also usually be used interchangeably with mat. The French term, occasionally used in English, is passe-partout, also spelled as passepartout.

A picture is placed beneath it, with the cutout framing it.
The passe-partout serves two purposes: first, to prevent the image from touching the glass, and second, to frame the image and enhance its visual appeal.
The cutout in the passe-partout is usually beveled to avoid casting shadows on the picture.

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Source: Wikipedia · Image: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5