Religious High-relief Bust – Carved Linden Wood – Germany, 17th Century

A high-relief fragment depicting a bust, likely of a religious nature, carved from soft wood (linden). The wavy hair, rendered as deeply carved strands with genuine undercuts, as well as the lively drapery falling over the shoulders, attest to meticulous, entirely hand-carved workmanship—the gouge marks remain visible and irregular, with no mechanical retouching.The “windblown” treatment of the hair and the quality of the facial modeling are linked to the tradition of 17th-century woodcarving in southern Germany (Swabia, Franconia, the Rhineland). The bust, carved from a separate block and tapered at the back, was mounted at a later date onto an oak display board, which is itself antique (evidenced by wormholes, a crack, and old mounting holes) but not original to the sculpture—likely a reassembly by a dealer or collector to showcase the fragment. Traces of polychromy and white ground are visible on the face and the drapery.
Dimensions: 48 cm x 26 cm (display board)