Spanish (probably Castilian), 18th Century
Niño Jesús
Polychromed wood 16 x 12 x 11 inches
It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of figures of the Christ Child in the devotional life of Spain. The subject of Christ as a child, standing or seated alone, became popular in the sixteenth century, and especially in the seventeenth and succeeding centuries.
The Christ Child embodies all that is innocent and innately wise.
The iconography of this sculpture of the Child is described as the Christ Child Welcoming the Cross. It symbolizes his premonition of his own Passion and Crucifixion, but without sorrow. Here we see Him at peace with the rest of his life and his destiny; He naps on the Cross, content with His mission on earth, and his future sacrifice for all mankind.
Besides being cloistered in convents and monasteries, the figures of the Christ Child were kept by individuals as objects for private devotion, displayed before the public in churches, and carried in procession (for instance, during Holy Week or Corpus Christi) processional figures. All religious sculptures like this one were intended to be substitute for the real Christ Child/saint/Virgin, so realism was important.
