This is an unusually early post-medieval ivory. The carving of the torso, and to a lesser extent the head and loincloth, suggests this piece is by the Italian ivory carver Giovanni Antonio Gualterio (active Rome 1582-1600), who came from Gaeta, south of Rome, and who specialised in carving ivory crucifixes. Many of his works seem to have been exported to Spain, which may explain why coloured pigment is to be seen on some of them. Here the loincloth, as well as the red pigment for blood, are typical of Gualterio's work. The scale of the present piece coincides with fragment of a crucifix in the Grünes Gewolbe in Dresden dated 1599, suggesting an approximate date for this object.

Many Renaissance devotees would have a crucifx within their homes, to which they would devote their daily prayers. In some cases, the beauty of the sculpted crucified Christ communicated divine perfection - in this example, the smooth ivory was intended to evoke feelings of love and reverence as well as pain and sorrow.