Small domestic altar

Precious domestic little altar, consisting of a crucifix and two candlesticks in amber with inlaid ivory, from the Baltic area, dating from the second half of the 17th century, dedicated to the sacred Heart of Jesus.
On the top of the Cross are set the figures inlaid in ivory of the Evangelists with their symbolic attributes; the stem of amber of the Cross is grafted on a plinth on which rests the skull of Adam, carved in ivory. The figures of Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Mary Magdalene are symmetrically placed side by side at the foot of the Cross and at the sides of the plinth (the bodies are carved in amber while the halo heads are in ivory).
A cubic structure in amber, open with a front door simulates the tomb of Christ; inside the urn lies the body of Christ resting on a sheet, all carved in ivory. Externally, on the sides of the tomb, inside curved niches, are the ivory figures of two soldiers, symmetrically placed to guard the burial, dressed with an armor of German style.
On the three sides of the base are set three mixed ivory panels, inlaid to depict three crucial episodes of the last hours of the earthly life of Christ.