Crucifix, detail (ivory, height 65.5 cm); Georg Petel, Augsburg, around 1629-31. Residenz Treasury © Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung

Born in Weilheim, some forty kilometres south-west of Munich, the sculptor Georg Petel began working in Augsburg in 1625. He ranks as one of the greatest sculptors of his time and as one of the finest ivory carvers in Europe. This intensely expressive crucifix is modelled on a type invented by the great Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. The sculpture once belonged to the Palatine branch of the Wittelsbach family and has been on display in the Residenz Treasury since 1958.