18th-century Spanish school.

18th-century Spanish school.
“The Infant Jesus with the Symbols of the Passion.”
Wooden carving with polychrome paint, fabric, glass eyes, and natural hair
Measurements: 70 x 25 x 29 cm.
In this clearly devotional image, the Child Jesus is depicted walking through a landscape, looking directly at the faithful person praying before him while carrying the cross on his shoulder along with other symbols of the Passion, such as the crown of thorns.
Throughout its history—and especially during the Modern Era—Christian art took delight in casting the shadow of the cross over the innocent childhood of Jesus. The contrast between a child’s joyful carefreeness and the horror of the sacrifice to which he was predestined was intended to move the hearts of viewers. This idea was already familiar to medieval theologians, but the artists of that time expressed it discreetly—whether through the Virgin’s worried expression or through the cluster of grapes that the Child is squeezing in his hands. It was especially in the art of the Counter-Reformation that this foreboding of the Passion was expressed through subtle allusions. Zurbarán depicts the Child Jesus pricking his finger as he weaves a crown of thorns. Murillo depicts the young Saint John the Baptist showing him his cross made of reeds. Finally, the theme finds its most moving expression in the image of the Sleeping Infant Jesus on a cross.