The elongated Mannerist proportions and the Christ Child's coiffure reveal a debt to the style brought from Italy by the Munich court sculptors Hubert Gerhard and Hans Reichl. Although they both worked primarily in bronze, they influenced the noted ivory carver Christoph Angermair, who specialized in small-scale carvings for the Kunstkammern of wealthy princes and merchants. Beginning in 1613 Angermair served as court sculptor to Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria, himself a proficient ivory turner.