Gothic boxwood miniature

Gothic boxwood miniatures are extremely small carved wood miniature sculptures, mostly of Southern Netherlandish origin, produced in the 15th and 16th centuries. They consist of layers of miniature wood reliefs, sometimes the width of a dressing pin, and are highly intricate, often to a near microscopic level. They were carved from boxwood, and are mostly in the form of objects of personal devotion, such as rosary or prayer beads, spherical pendants, statuettes or coffins. There are around 150 surviving examples; some 20 are in the form of multi panel triptychs, diptychs or tabernacle with a majority of the others in spherical form, of a type known as prayer nuts, from the equivalent German term gebedsnoot.

Objects of this type were highly coveted in the early sixteenth century. The exceptional craftsmanship and estimated 30 years required for their completion indicates that they were intended for members of the high nobility. However little is known of the artists or craftsmen who produced them. Apart from private veneration, they were worn as necklaces or hung from belts as fashionable accessories. The reliefs were mostly executed as multiple individual parts, later glued onto the main block of wood. Magnification was possibly used during the process. While the names of the sculptors and artisans are mostly lost, some of the original owners can be identified from markings, usually initials or coats of arms, left by the sculptors. Major collections are in the Art Gallery of Ontario, part of the Waddesdon Bequest in the British Museum, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art broadly categorise the objects into two groups, those with simple reliefs, and those with a complex design. A majority of the surviving examples are single prayer beads, often with extravagant combinations of carving, tracery and inscriptions on the outer shells. They often take the form of two hemispheres joined by a girdle with hinges and clasps, with the interiors hollowed out to make way for elaborate carvings. The miniatures can be linked stylistically to similar objects of larger scale and would have been conceived with similar religious outlook and conviction. Their iconography derives both from biblical scenes, with expansive depictions of the Crucifixion, and were also at times influenced by contemporary literature. The objects' dramatic and incongruous impact, being both tiny and expansive at the same time, are particularly suited to depictions of Heaven and Hell.

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