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Artist:
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Attributed to Felipe de Ribas
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Title:
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Christ Child, one of a pair
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Date:
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c. 1640
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Medium:
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Polychrome and gilt wood, glass
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Dimensions:
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23 1/4 x 11 9/16 x 7 7/8 in. (59.06 x 29.37 x 20 cm) (without bottom peg)
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Credit Line:
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The John R. Van Derlip Fund
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Location:
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Gallery 341
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The sacred infants of Jesus Christ and his cousin John the Baptist (seen on the opposite pedestal) were particularly emphasized in Spanish spirituality of the Baroque age. Christ is seen on a cloud with cherub's heads, highlighting his heavenly nature, whereas John the Baptist stands on a rock, indicative of his human nature. Instead of sculpted attributes, originally both figures would have held real-life objects in their hands, such as a metal crucifix and a paper or parchment scroll. Real-life objects, together with Christ's glass eyes and the naturalistically rendered, colorful textiles are elements of an artistic strategy of hyperrealism, by which Spanish artists of the Baroque period aimed at breaking up the division between art and reality, in order to sweep the pious beholder away to the divine.
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Artist/Creator(s)
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Name:
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Ribas, Felipe de
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Nationality:
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Spanish
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Life Dates:
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Spanish, 1609-1648
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Object Description
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Inscriptions:
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Classification:
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Sculpture
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Physical Description:
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standing infant with PL arm upraised; striding forward with PR leg; wearing gold, red and black garment tied with sash, and gold and red shoulder cloth; long dark hair; standing on five winged putto heads
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Creation Place:
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Europe, Spain, , ,
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Accession #:
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2010.27.1.1
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Owner:
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The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
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