Lot 10

Unknown author BABY JESUS SLEEPING ON A CROSS

After the Council of Trent (1545–1563), Christian art began to emphasize the childlike innocence of the incarnate Jesus and to incorporate foreshadowings of his future suffering into depictions of his childhood. The Infant Jesus began to appear as a sleeping child on the cross, resembling a putto, yet conveying the harrowing contrast of the idea that “we are born to die” and seeking to appeal to piety. In this form, the Infant Jesus is, in a sense, an extension of the vanitas repertoire.