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The statuette expresses a combined sense of drama, monumentality, and elegance through the extraordinarily accomplished carving of the fine-grained wood. Among the naturalistic details that subtly enhance the forms is the delicate manner in which the Virgin's fingertips press into the chubby flesh of the Child.
Intended as an object of private devotion, and part of a long tradition in the use of boxwood for this purpose, it may well have been commissioned by a member of the imperial court in Vienna. Both arms of the Child and the section of drapery held in his left hand are replacements.
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