Gothic boxwood miniatures are very small Christian-themed wood sculptures produced during the 15th and 16th centuries in the Low Countries, at the end of the Gothic period and during the emerging Northern Renaissance.Sharpe, Emily. "Good things come in small packages at the Rijksmuseum". The Art Newspaper, 17 June 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2018 They consist of highly intricate layers of reliefs, often rendered to nearly microscopic level, and are made from boxwood, which has a fine grain and high density suitable for detailed micro-carving. There are around 150 surviving examples; most are spherical rosary beads (known as prayer nuts), statuettes, skulls, or coffins; some 20 are in the form of polyptychs, including triptych and diptych altarpieces, tabernacles and monstrances.Suda, Sasha; Ellis, Lisa. "Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures Introduction". Art Gallery of Ontario, 28 October 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2017 The polyptychs are typically in height. Most of the beads are in diameter and designed so they could be held in the palm of a hand, hung from necklaces or belts, or worn as fashionable accessories.
Boxwood miniatures were highly prized in the early 16th century. Their iconography, form, and utility can be linked to medieval ivory carvings, as well as contemporary illuminated miniatures, altarpieces, panel paintings, sculpture, woodcuts, and engravings. They typically contain imagery from the life of Mary, the Crucifixion of Jesus, or vistas of Heaven and Hell. Each miniature's production required exceptional craftsmanship, suggesting that they were commissioned by high-ranking nobles.
A number of the miniatures appear to have come from a workshop led by Adam Dircksz, who is thought to have produced dozens of such works. Almost nothing is known about him or the artisans who produced the miniatures. Some of their original owners can be identified from markings included by the sculptor, usually initials or coats of arms.Marks (1977), p. 162 Important collections of boxwood miniatures are in the Art Gallery of Ontario, in the British Museum as part of the Waddesdon Bequest, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Thornton (1985), pp. 162–94 Because of their rarity and the difficulty in discerning their intricacy from reproductions, boxwood miniatures have not been as widely studied as other forms of Netherlandish visual art.
Production
Boxwood is a dense hardwood with fine grain, resistant to splitting and chipping, making it ideal for wood carving.Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 25Drake Boehm, Barbara; Suda, Alexandra. "What is Boxwood?." Art Gallery of Ontario. Retrieved 22 September 2018 In the 16th century, wooden blocks used for woodblock printing were usually made of boxwood. The uses for boxwood were similar to those for ivory in medieval carvings, however boxwood was a far less expensive option.Scholten (2017), p. 23 Designs were overseen by master craftsmen who must have had access to prints and woodcuts of contemporary works of art, and who were apparently influenced by diptych and triptych panel paintings.Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 23
Boxwood grows slowly, and the trunk remains fairly narrow, a fact that limits the size of any carvings made from any single piece. The wood assumes an even, soft, and tactile surface if polished or frequently handled, such as was the case for prayer nuts.Scholten (2017), p. 20 The wood loses its tactility when painted, explaining why most of the miniatures are in monochrome. Polychromy reduced the legibility of the carvings, "quite apart from the difficulty of effectively coloring such tiny and complex scenes" as the art historian Frits Scholten has noted.Scholten (2017), pp. 22–23
The tools used in production were similar to those used in the production of larger altarpieces, and included saws, planes, card scrapers, chisels, augers, braces and gimlets. Wood was cut into the required dimensions as blocks, after which the joints were carved out. Prayer beads were turned on a lathe.Thornton (1985), p. 162 The woodcutters carved a single block of boxwood into a sphere, cut it in half, hollowed it out, and attached a fastening hinge and carrying loops. The carvings in the interiors were typically made separately from the smaller hemispheres and later fitted onto an outer shell. In some cases, these wooden shells were placed in silver housing.Scholten (2011), p. 332"Rosary bead, c. 1525–50, Flemish (CA 17.190.328)." Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 18 November 218
Because of the diminutive scale of the pieces, magnifying glasses were used in their production.Scholten (2017), p. 57 The very small wood pieces were difficult to brace (hold in place) during carving. They were probably positioned on a bench, between two posts, so that they could be turned around. Domed spaces, intended to evoke church architecture, were drilled or carved, and these were divided using compasses and a straightedge into pie-shaped segments. A surface plane was established onto which the reliefs were added. These were created from multiple separate wood sheets, individually produced before being joined in layers. Major figures, usually saints, were carved from single blocks of wood. Relief components were either glued into prefixed niches,Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 63Dandridge, Peter; Ellis, Lisa. "The Interior Carvings of Gothic Boxwood Miniature Altarpieces". Art Gallery of Ontario. Retrieved 17 November 2018 or they were bound with pegs, which were sometimes functional and obviously visible or implanted into the relief form.Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 47 Because of this layered structure, they are often fragile.
An example of this layering technique is in the "Last Judgement" prayer bead (AGO 29365) attributed to Adam Dircksz and now located at the Art Gallery of Ontario, where some thirty minuscule, individually carved spikes are set into the ceiling vault and around Christ to suggest rays of light. Punctuations in the wood suggesting stars were added to the ceiling via tiny drilled holes.Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 55"Last Judgement; Coronation of the Virgin." Art Gallery of Ontario. Retrieved 10 December
The level of detail indicates the use of magnification in their production, probably with the same instruments used by contemporary jewelers.Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 27 Describing these intricacies, the art historian Eve Kahn writes that the works can be so rich that "individual feathers are visible on angel wings, and dragon skins are textured with thick scales. Crumbling shacks are shown with shingles missing from their gabled roofs. Saints' robes and soldiers' uniforms are trimmed with buttons and embroidery, and there are minute representations of jewelry and rosary beads."
Attribution and dating
Only one miniature is explicitly dated, a triptych (WB.232) in the Waddesdon Bequest at the British Museum is inscribed with "1511".WB.232: Triptych / case / altar-piece ". British Museum. Retrieved 30 November A minority bear a coat of arms or other indications of origin or the source of commission. A carving in the Musée de Cluny, Paris, contains the letter "M", and must have been completed before the 1524 inventory of Margaret of Austria. Approximate dates for other examples can be inferred from the inventories of their owners.Marks (1977), p. 140 The rosary beads owned by Henry VIII of England must have been produced between his marriage to Catherine of Aragon in 1509 and his earliest efforts to separate from her in 1526.
Most surviving boxwood miniatures are attributed to Northern Renaissance artisans working in the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.Marks (1977), p. 132 Due to their quality and stylistic similarities to the full-sized Flemish and Brabantine altarpieces, they were for centuries assumed to originate from Southern Netherlands. However, more recent research has found that a majority of the early owners came from the northern provinces of Holland and Zeeland.Scholten (2017), p. 31 There are examples from Italy, although according to Wilhelm Bode, "The broad monumental tendency of Italian art, especially in sculpture, seems to exclude a taste for daintily executed small works."Bode (1904), p. 179 German examples include a carving encased in a miniature skull, now in the Art Gallery of Ontario, which contains branchwork () of a type often found in contemporary German sculpture.Wetter; Scholten (2017), p. 171
That a majority of the miniatures share technical, stylistic, and thematic similarities, and could be considered as a near homogeneous group was first noted by the art historian Jaap Leeuwenberg.Scholten (2011), p. 339 Such stylistic traits include broad and densely populated animated scenes, often placed, in the words of the art historian William Wixom, on "steeply angled ground planes of tiled floors."Wixom (1983), p. 43 Other shared features include spatial devices, figures in contemporary dress, and draperies arranged in angular folds. On this basis, Leeuwenberg attributed a large number of the objects to Dircksz, around 35–40, although that estimate has been revised down in more recent years.
Production of the boxwood miniatures was organized between different workshops of specialized artisans.Ellis; Suda (2016), p. 73 Because the miniatures are so intricate, only a small number of workshops were probably involved in their production.Anderson (2012), p. 112 Due to this high degree of artistry, art historians presume they were intended as luxury items and status symbols for a high-born and sophisticated European elite;McConnell (1991), p. 69 Henry VIII and Catherine,Wixom (1983), p. 39 Emperor Charles VShultz (1986), p. 18 and Albert V of BavariaThornton (1985), p. 164 are known to have owned individual boxwood miniatures.Kahn, Eve. "Unlocking the Secrets of Boxwood Miniatures". The New York Times, November 3, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2017
Adam Dircksz
Because of shared characteristics, including the common use of horror vacui, similar spatial approaches and use of depth,Scholten (2017), p. 27 as well as similar hinges and methods of construction,Suda, Alexandra; Ellis, Liza. "Investigating Miniature Boxwood Carving at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto." CODART eZine, Spring 2003. Retrieved 18 November 2018 Leeuwenberg has suggested that production of a number of the miniatures was overseen by Adam Dircksz,Van Os; Filedt Kok (2000), pp. 107–08Marks (1977), p. 142 Dircksz was first identified through a signature on a prayer nut now in the Statens Museum Copenhagen, reading "" (Adam Dircksz has made me).Scholten (2017), pp. 24–36 The Latin name "Adam Theodrici" may be translated into English as "Adam of Theodoric," but art historians usually use the Dutch version of his name."Prayer bead with the Crucifixion and Jesus Carrying the Cross." Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 8 October 2018 Although it was rare in the 16th century for artists to sign a work when done, it usually took the "" (made me) form, in effect making the object speak.Scholten (2017), p. 32
Almost nothing is known about Dircksz except that the works were produced 1500–1530. The signature may indicate that he was a woodcutter, sculptor, medallist, or just simply the patron."Adam Dircksz (Biographical details)." British Museum. Retrieved 18 November 2018 Dircksz is thought to have been active between 1500 and 1530, and responsible for some sixty of the surviving examples. He may have led a workshop in the southern Netherlands,Shaw, Tamsin. "The Universe in a Nutshell". The New York Review of Books, 12 May 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2018 given that Flemish inscriptions appear on some of the carvings. Alternatively, it was located more northerly, possibly in the north of Brabant or at Delft in Holland.Scholten (2011), p. 342 In any case, apart from Henry VIII and Catherine, all of the original owners come from the Netherlands.Marks (1977), p. 141