Sleeping Christ Child Holding Cross
n.d.
Medium
Black chalk, with stumping, on cream laid paper, laid down on cream wove board
Dimensions
13 × 13.9 cm (5 1/8 × 5 1/2 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
82507
Art Historical Context
Carlo Cignani, a leading Bolognese painter of the late Baroque period, created this intimate drawing of the Sleeping Christ Child Holding Cross. Active in the seventeenth century, Cignani trained under the influence of the Carracci family and developed a refined classicizing style that blended graceful forms with gentle emotional expression. The subject—a tender depiction of the infant Jesus asleep while clutching the instrument of his future Passion—reflects a long-standing Christian iconography that juxtaposes innocence with sacrifice, inviting quiet contemplation from viewers. Executed in ...
About the Artist
Carlo Cignani · 1628–1719
Painter who continued the tradition of Bolognese classicism into the 18th century. He became the first president of the Accademia Clementina in 1711. His style is similar to that of Guido Reni. Comment on works: Mythology; Religious.