The statue of the Infant Jesus in the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Prague’s Malá Strana receives visitors from all over the world every day. Its value does not lie in exceptional artistic merit, but in its spiritual beauty and impact.
The statue is 47 centimeters tall. It is made of wood with a surface modelled from coloured wax. Canvas shows though beneath the wax. It represents the Child Jesus at the age of four to five years. The face has a distinctive expression no copy accurately reproduce. Moorish features can be observed in the face and in the curly hair, which was originally darker. This corresponds the Spanish origin of the statue.
The Infant Jesus is dressed in a long under-robe beneath which we can see his bare feet. He blesses with his right hand, while in his left he holds the symbol of his rule over the world – an imperial orb topped with a cross. His palm has a slot for attaching the orb. The statue is dressed in royal robes. In the past, the robes were decorated with precious jewels given by the faithful. The most valuable jewel, now lost, was a copy of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The head of the Infant Jesus is adorned with a historic crown. The crown in not placed directly on the statue, instead it is attached separately just above the Infant Jesus.
People know the Infant Jesus mainly wearing his royal robes. Dressing the Infant Jesus emphasises his true humanity – just as a mother dresses her child, so the Carmelite Sisters dress Jesus. Yet the robes themselves indicate his divinity and his priestly and royal majesty.
Like a priest at the altar, the Infant Jesus is dressed in the colours of the liturgical season according to the church calendar. Generally, four basic colours are used:
Red: The colour of blood and fire – for Holy week, Pentecost and Feasts of the Holy Cross
Green: The colour of life and hope – for ordinary time (the most common colour)
White: The colour of glory, purity, and holiness – for celebrations, Christmas and Easter
Purple: The colour of penance – for Lent and Advent
On the day of the coronation celebration, the Infant Jesus is dressed in royal robes with an ermine cloak. On special occasions, other colours are used:
Pink: The colour of muted joy – can be used for the third Advent Sunday and the fourth Sunday in Lent
Blue: Can be sometimes used as a celebration colour, especially for the feast of Our Lady
Golden: The colour of feast – can substitute other colours
The wardrobe of the statue contains around three hundred robes of which some are not usable. Most of them are gifts of gratitude. It is possible to see part of the Infant Jesus’ wardrobe in our museum, which has free access. The Carmelite Sisters of the Child Jesus are in charge of dressing the Infant Jesus. The Sisters help the Discalced Carmelite Brothers to look after this place of pilgrimage.
The first layer of clothing is the under-gown – alb. It is a white linen gown with openings for the arms or short sleeves. Sometimes it is decorated with simple embroidery or lace. The under-gown is put on over the head and fastened at the back with buttons or ties.
Over the alb a coloured gown is put on. Its design resembles a child’s gown and it is also fastened at the back. The front of this gown is richly decorated often with motifs drawn from Christian symbolism. The lower edge is usually finished with lace or another type of decorative trim.
The top layer is a cloak, matching the gown in colour and pattern. The left side falls freely over the shoulder, while the front right side is folded over the blessing arm so that the lower part of the cloak becomes visible. Decorated fabric is usually used on the left front side and on the right part of the reverse. Some cloaks, however, are draped over the shoulders without folding, so the pattern appears only on the outer part, while the reverse side is lined. The decoration is concentrated on the upper side sections. The edges of the cloak are usually ornamented in a similar way to the gown.
Finally, ruffs are placed on the wrists and around the neck if they are not part of the under-gown, lace is usually used for these as well. The imperial orb is placed in the Infant Jesus’ left hand and the crown is positioned over his head.
Navrch se obléká pláštík, který se barvou i vzorem shoduje s košilkou. Levá strana splývá volně přes rameno, zatímco pravá přední strana je nad žehnající rukou přeložena, čímž se stává viditelnou spodní část pláštíku. Zdobená tkanina bývá použita v levé části na líci, v pravé části na rubu. Některé pláštíky se však přehazují přes ramena bez překládání, takže vzor je jen na vrchní straně. Rub tvoří podšívka. Výzdoba se soustřeďuje na vrchní postranní díly. Okraje pláštíku bývají zdobeny podobně jako spodní okraj košilky.
Na závěr se na ruce a na krk navlékají okruží, pokud nejsou součástí košilky. Také na okruží jsou většinou použity krajky. Do levé dlaně se Ježíškovi vkládá královské jablko a nad hlavou má připevněnou korunu.
