Spanish school of the first half of the 17th century

Spanish school of the first half of the 17th century.
"Infant Jesus with the attributes of the Passion".
Oil on copper.
Presents losses.
Measurements: 23 x 15 cm; 37 x 31 x 3cm.

In this painting, surely destined to private devotion since it is an oil on copper, Jesus is represented as an innocent child, with rosy cheeks, carrying the instruments of his future martyrdom and wearing a reddish tunic, alluding to the blood and therefore also a clear symbol of the Passion. Throughout its history, and especially in the Modern Age, Christian art delighted in projecting the shadow of the cross on the innocent infancy of Jesus. 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. This idea was already familiar to the theologians of the Middle Ages, but the artists of that time expressed it discreetly, either through the worried expression of the Virgin, or through the bunch of grapes that the Child squeezes in his hands. It was especially in the art of the Counter-Reformation that this funeral presentiment of the Passion was expressed by means of transparent allusions. Zurbarán shows the Infant Jesus pricking himself with his finger while braiding a crown of thorns. Murillo, the little St. 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 carrying it voluntarily, as a burden he accepts on behalf of humanity.