ALTARPIECE OF THE HOLY INFANT'S CHILDHOOD

SUPPORT AND ELABORATION 

Figures making up the scenes are carved from one single block of wood made up of several other pieces. Larger figures were carved from a block comprising three tangential cuts joined together with right angled joints placed in alternate directions in order to compensate for possible movement owing to their hygroscopic nature. The Presentation in the Temple relief is made from one single tangentially-cut block of wood to which small pieces have been added in order to increase lateral volume.

The rears of the figures have been chamfered to fit them to the flat surface of the rears and sides of the compartments. Planes were used to fit some while planes, adzes and gouges were used on others. Particularly notable are the bevelled angles of the Presentation relief used to fit it into a poligonally-shaped niche. Additionally, one of its extremes has been reduced in a semicircular fashion, possibly in order to fit the relief into the architectural decoration of the altarpiece. The rears of the compartments containing the two larger scenes are flat, not poligonally-shaped like the others.