Cardinal Christopher Widman

Wax is used as a sculpting material for preliminary models and for works in their own right. It is quick and easy to shape, yet also cheap. Once softened, it is modelled in a similar way to clay, with the composition built up gradually. To enhance the wax, pigment can be added before moulding and pearls or other jewels can be embedded in the surface afterwards. This wax relief is possibly related to a bronze medal of the same Cardinal, a version of which is also in the collection of the V&A (see inv.no. 385-1906). But the costume and hair differ, and the wax may depict the same sitter at a slightly earlier date.