Small Wonders: Late Gothic Boxwood Microcarvings from the Low Countries

Teeming with life, these astounding miniature worlds are virtuoso triumphs of the Late Gothic. This volume reveals the extraordinary artistry of the miniature boxwood carvings of the early 16th century?works so small they can fit in the palm of your hand. These ingeniously constructed, wonderfully detailed works depicting biblical scenes were made for private devotion and amusement. Presenting 60 statuettes, miniature altars, prayer nuts, rosaries, skulls and other pendants, Small Wonders is the first examination of these pocket-sized Late Gothic carvings from the Low Countries.The techniques employed to transform these small objects into miniature worlds, teeming with life, have long defied comprehension. Now, through collaborative work by conservators at the Art Gallery of Ontario and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the artists' secrets have been unlocked. The Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario and The Metropolitan Museum of Art constitute the largest and most significa