Sleeping Christ Child

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Sleeping Christ Child as sculpture (Italy · c. 1675).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

Tender images of the Christ child sleeping encouraged devout Christians to meditate on Christ’s humanity.

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this sculpture as marble and credits Filippo Parodi (Italian, 1630–1702).

The museum's collection notes: Christ—no longer an infant, but a young child—sprawls on a bed of straw, his head thrown back in slumber and his right arm dangling. The simple radiance framing his head indicates his divinity. Representations of the sleeping Christ child were enduringly popular, not only because of the subject’s inherent charm, but sleep, as a metaphor for death, encouraged pious Christians to meditate on Christ’s humanity and his eventual suffering and death. Filippo Parodi’s Sleeping Christ Child beguiles with lifelike detail. Parodi used varying degrees of polish to differentiate surface textures: Christ’s body is burnished to a soft gleam, while his hair

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtSleeping Christ Child

Original explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.