Andalusian school; late 17th century.

Andalusian school; late 17th century.
‘Infant Jesus with the attributes of the Passion’.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has repainting and restorations.
Measurements. 83,5 x 61 cm.

In this painting Jesus is depicted as an innocent, rosy-cheeked child, carrying the instruments of his future martyrdom and wearing a red robe brocaded in gold, alluding to his own martyrdom. Throughout its history, and especially in the Modern Age, Christian art delighted in projecting the innocent infancy of Jesus next to the representation of the cross. The contrast between the happy unconcern of a child and the horror of the sacrifice to which he was predestined was designed to move hearts. It was especially in the art of the Counter-Reformation that this funereal presentiment of the Passion was expressed by means of transparent allusions. Zurbarán shows the Infant Jesus pricking himself with his finger as he plaits a crown of thorns. Murillo, the little Saint John the Baptist showing him his cross of reeds. Finally, the theme finds its most poignant expression in the theme of the Infant Jesus Sleeping on a Cross. Here Jesus is not presented as a baby but as a somewhat older child, looking directly at us, fully aware of his destiny, and in fact bearing it voluntarily, as a burden he accepts on behalf of humanity.

Given the importance given to religious images in the Hispanic world, during the 17th and 18th centuries ambitious pictorial series and extensive iconographic programmes were created for churches and convents, as well as printed prints, medals and reliquaries for private devotion. As a whole, regardless of their size or medium, these images fulfilled the aim of sacralising everyday life beyond the altars.