Christ Child
The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Divino Niño, and Santo Niño in Hispanic nations, refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity until age 12.
The four
Liturgical feasts
- The Feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ (25 December);
- The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite);
- The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (3 January – Roman Rite; others – various);
- The Feast of the Epiphany (6 January or 19 January in the Gregorian equivalent of the Julian calendar)
- The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord(2 February)
Depictions in art
From about the third or fourth century onwards, the child Jesus is frequently shown in paintings, and sculpture. Commonly these are nativity scenes showing the birth of Jesus, with his mother Mary, and her husband Joseph.
Depictions as a baby with the Virgin Mary, known as
Saint Joseph,
During the Middle Ages
The Christ Child was a popular subject in European wood sculpture beginning in the 1300s.[2]
The Christ Child was well known in Spain under the title montañesino after the
The images were quite popular among nobility of Spain and Portugal. Colonial images of the Christ child also began to wear
The symbolism of the Child Jesus in art reached its apex during the Renaissance: the Holy Family was a central theme in the works of Leonardo da Vinci and many other masters.[4]
Apocrypha
Some
Devotional images
Several historically significant images of the Christ Child have been
In the 17th century, French Carmelites promoted veneration of the "Little King of Beaune".[6] In the late 19th century, a devotion to the “Holy Child of Remedy” developed in Madrid, Spain.[7]
Music
Archconfraternity of the Holy Infancy
On 1636, a
He then introduced
Christ Child Society
The Christ Child Society was founded in 1885 in Washington, D.C., by Mary Virginia Merrick,[11] as a small relief organization to aid local underprivileged children. Additional chapters were started in other cities.[12]
Gallery
-
Child Jesus representing the Passion of Jesus Christ, c. 1820, Weingarten
-
Holy Infant of Atocha, Mexico
-
Santo Niño de Cebu, Philippines
See also
- Child Jesus images in Mexico
- Holy Infant of Good Health
- Infant Jesus of Mechelen – for a discussion of the style of sculpture
- Infant Jesus of Prague
- Santo Niño (disambiguation)
- Santo Niño de Atocha
- Maria Bambina– similar devotion to Mary
- Studies of an Infant
References
- ^ Ferguson, George. Signs & symbols in Christian art, 1966, Oxford University Press US, p.76
- ^ "Christ Child", The J.Paul Getty Museum
- ^ "Contrapposto". Archived from the original on 2015-04-16.
- ^ "Holy Family", Encyclopædia Britannica Online
- ^ "Roten, J. and Janssen, T., "Jesus as a Child"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
- ISBN 9780802838360
- ^ "Brief History of the Holy Child of Remedy", Friends of Anne of St. Bartolomew
- ^ Mulleady O.D.C., Barthold. "Devotion to the Infant Jesus", American Ecclesiastical Review, Volume 57, 1917, p. 600 et seq.
- ^ The life of the baron de Renty, (Edward Healy Thompson, ed.), Burns & Oates, 1873, p. 8
- ^ Thompson, Edward Healy. The Life of Jean-Jacques Olier, Burns & Oates, , p. 391
- ^ Christ Child Society
- ^ Barga, Michael. "Christ Child Society", Social Welfare History Project, Virginia Commonwealth University