At 25.1 cm (9.9 in) high, it is built from a series of architectural layers or registers, which culminate at an upper triptych, whose centre panel contains a minutely detailed and intricate Crucifixion scene filled with multitudes of figures in relief.

Below this is a single, wide but low piece showing the betrayal by Judas Iscariot, followed by the lower again semicircular arcade depiction of the Last Supper, which is placed upon two registers that act as supports for the overall structure.

[6] In this, it is similar to the smaller miniature altarpiece OA 561, a c. 1520–1530 boxwood sculpture now in the Louvre, which was bequeathed by Ferdinand's cousin Baron Adolph Carl von Rothschild's estate in 1901,[8] and which may or may not be also by Adam Dircksz.

[10] Its reverse contains two empty chambers, presumably intended for relics of saints,[5] encased in a now-lost crest of arms, which would have represented the original donor or commissioning patron.

[11] When opened, they reveal the central panel showing the Crucifixion of Jesus[12] in a vista populated by numerous carved figures in full relief,[6] set against a steeply banked vaulted background.

[6] The carved Latin inscriptions along the lower border of the central panel contain text inspired by the Gospel of Saint John, and reads "SIC DEVS.

The other inscription, located on the Last Supper register, is contained within a cartouche, before the central figure of Christ, reads "1511",[14] making this Netherlandish boxwood miniature the only surviving work of its kind to be dated.

The more complex miniatures must have taken decades to complete, a period equivalent to the entire career of a medieval master carver,[16] and so the actual construction has to have involved a number of specialised artisans.

[26] Thornton and the art historians Pippa Shirley note that Ferdinand held the boxwoods in such esteem that they were placed centrally in the New Smoking Room of Waddesdon Manor.

[26] Although his collection of prayer nuts was often laid open on pins behind small thin enamels, the more complex pieces were encased in protective glass cases.

[27] Ferdinand's interest in boxwood carvings is further evident in his long but unsuccessful, pursuit of the Paris miniature altar owned by his cousin; both father and son were keenly fascinated by objects of this kind.