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| +Anonymous, Christ Blessing Children Southern Netherlands, c.1570 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
“And people were bringing children to Him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this He became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Then He embraced them and blessed them, placing His hands on them.”
Artists have responded with images that derive from these sayings. Yet, it seems that these images have not been uniformly spread throughout the Christian era.
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| Market Cross, Christ Blessing Children Lowest register Irish, 10th Century Kells, County Meath, Ireland |
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| +Ottonian ivory, Christ Blessing Children German, 968 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes |
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| +Christ Blessing Children From the Gospels of Otto III German (Reichenau), c.1000 Munich, Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 4453, fol. 116v |
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| +T'Oros Roslin, Christ Blessing Children From a Book of the Gospels Armenian, 1262 Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery MS W539, 83v |
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| *Michael Furter After Urs Graf, Christ Blessing Children From Postilla Guillermi super Epistolas et Evangelia German, 1511 Brauenschweig, Herzong Anton Ulrich Museum |
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| +Maître HB à la tête de Griffon, Christ Blessing Children German, c.1525 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures |
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| *Claesz Aert van Leyden, Christ Blessing Children Dutch, c. 1540-1564 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques |
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| +Georg Pencz, Christ Blessing Children German, 1540 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
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| +Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop, Christ Blessing Children German, 1545-1550 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art Cranach's images were particularly potent in forming an iconography comfortable for Protestants as he was closely allied with Martin Luther. |
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| *Jakob Lucius, Christ Receiving Children German, c. 1555 London, © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| *Master of the Egmont Albums, Christ Blessing the Children Dutch, c. 1570-1600 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques |
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| *Adriaen de Weerdt, Christ Blessing Children From Scenes from the Life of Christ Flemish, c. 1573 London, © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| *Hans Reinecke and Michael Hegewald, Baptismal Font German, 1590 Sayda, Evangelical City Church of Saint Mary The German inscription reads "Lasset die Kindelein zu mir kommen" or "Let the little children come to me". The fact that the inscription is in German instead of Latin argues that it was made for a Protestant church, which the church remains. It was, therefore, presumably made for a Lutheran church, which encourages infant baptism. |
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| *Jacques de Ble After Maarten de Vos, Christ Blessing Children From Vita, Passio, et Resurrectio Jesu Chisti Flemish, 1598 Brauenschweig, Herzong Anton Ulrich Museum |
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| *Johannes Galle, From Christ Blessing Children From Christi Jesu vitae admirabilliumque actionum speculum Flelmish, 1636 Brauenschweig, Herzong Anton Ulrich Museum |
This reasoning may indeed be part of the intention behind these images, since the upsurge is so sudden and appears to correlate well with the developments of the Reformation/Counter-Reformation period. For example, it does appear to begin in Germany, spread to Holland and Flanders and from there to enter the Catholic world through Flanders and France. It does not appear to have been particularly popular in Italy or in Spain, the two greatest centers of Catholic culture in Europe during this period.
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| +Artus Wolfaerts and Workshop, Christ Blessing Children Flemish, c.1600 Private Collection |
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| +Jacob Jordaens, Christ Blessing Children Flemish, c. 1615-1616 St. Louis (MO), Saint Louis Art Museum |
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| +Anthony Van Dyck, Christ Blessing Children Flemish, c. 1618-1620 Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada In this beautiful painting, Van Dyck appears to have painted a real family, which brings the interesting (and highly sympathetic) presence of the father as presenter of the children, in addition to the more usual image of the mother. |
Jesus is seen in profile or in shadow (the early Jacob Jordaens even shows Him from behind) and the individual faces and expressions of the children and their parents is what strikes our eyes first. In the case of the Ottawa Van Dyck and the de Bray from the Frans Halsmuseum these figures may well be actual portraits.
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| +Jacob de Wet I, Christ Blessing Children Dutch, c. 1640-1672 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| +Willem Jansz Verstraeten and Willem Isaacsz van Swanenburg, Christ Blessing the Children Delftware Plate Dutch, c.1645-1660 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| +Sebastien Bourdon, Christ Blessing Children French, c. 1650-1670 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures |
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| +Nicolaes Maes, Christ Blessing Children Dutch, 1652 London, National Gallery |
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| +Attributed to Jacob Jordaens Flemish, c. 1660-1669 Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst |
_Flemish_1663_Haarlem_Frans%20Halsmuseum_2.jpg) |
| +Jan de Braij (Bray), Christ Blessing Children Dutch, 1663 Haarlem, Frans Halsmuseum Jan de Bray had obviously seen the painting by Van Dyck or perhaps drawings and/or prints made from it. The inscription at the top, as you might expect, translates to "Let the little ones come to me". At the bottom, the inscription reads "Be mindful of your parents". The parents and children are de Bray's cousin, the physician Pieter Braems, and his wife, Emmerantia van der Laen, and their four children.4 |
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| Engraving after Jan de Bray's Christ Blessing Children Dutch, c. 1663-1800 Amsterdam, Rijkmuseum This engraving after the de Bray painting, (shown on the left) which itself derives from the composition of Van Dyck (shown above) demonstrates how an image could be quickly and widely disseminated to both the public and to other artists. |
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| +Johannes Voorhout I, Dollhouse Chimney with Christ Blessing the Children Dutch, c. 1690-1710 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| *Francois Verdier, Christ Blessing Children French, Second Half of 17th Century Grenoble, Musée de Grenoble |
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| *Anonymous, Children Blessed by Christ Hand Colored Mezzotint English, c. 1770-1800 London, © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| *Noël Halle, Christ Blessing Children French, c. 1770-1780, Paris, Musée Carnavalet |
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| +Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier, Christ Blessing Chldren French, 1783 Rouen, Musée des Beaux-Arts |
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| +William Blake, Christ Blessing Children English, 1799 London, Tate Gallery |
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| +Antoine Jean Joseph Ansiaux, Christ Blessing Children French, 1820 Versailles, Chateaux de Versailles et de Trianon |
During the nineteenth century the image becomes more sentimentalized than formerly, with just a few notable exceptions. Movements such as the Nazarenes among German artists and the Pre-Raphaelites in England contributed to a turning away from grand scenes, in favor of a simpler, "barebones" retelling. This in turn often led to sentimentalization. The process can be observed in the comparison of a drawing by the Nazarene artist, Johann Friedrich Overbeck and a mezzotint engraving made after it (or after a painting by Overbeck which is not available on the internet). The mezzotint could be printed in multiple copies, making it available to a wider public than those who could have seen either the drawing or a finished painting. It could, thus, serve as a easy aid to future compositions as well as a guide to the public as to what such a picture should look like. Since it shows a placid, vaguely classical scene this could lead quite easily to a growing sentimentality.
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| +Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Christ Blessing Children Drawing German, c. 1824-1835 Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques |
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| Mezzotint after Johan Friedrich Overbeck, Christ Blessing Children After 1830 London, © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| *John Gibson, Christ Blessing Children English, c. 1832-1834 Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery |
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| Hippolyte Flandrin, Christ Blessing Children French, c. 1836-1838 Lisieux, Musée d'At et d'Histoire |
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| +Benjamin Haydon, Christ Blessing Children English, 1837 Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery |
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| +Charles Locke Eastlake, Christ Blessing Children English, 1839 Manchester, Manchester City Galleries |
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| +Cornelis Kruseman, Christ Blessing Children Dutch, 1840 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
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| +Richard Cockle Lucas, Christ Blessing Children English, c. 1840-1863 London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
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| *Sebastien Louis Guillaume Norblin de la Gourdaine, Christ Blessing the Children French, 1856 Varennes-sur-Seine, Church of Saint Lambert |
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| +Fritz von Uhde, Christ Blessing Chldren German, 1885 Greifswald, Pomerania State Museum |
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| +James Tissot, Christ Blessing Children French, c. 1886-1896 New York, Brooklyn Museum |
Of considerable interest is a series of stained-glass church
windows, primarily executed in France from the 1870s to the 1930s. .
,%20Parish%20Church%20of%20Saint-Laurent.jpg) |
| *Emile Bazire, Christ Blessing Children French, Last Quarter of the 19th Century Silly-en-Gouffern (Normandy), Parish Church of Saint-Laurent |
,%20Church%20of%20Saint%20Peter.jpg) |
| *Claudius Lavergne, Christ Blessing Children French, c. 1888-1898 Retiers (Brittany), Church of Saint Peter The text in the blue cartouche at the bottom reads:"Sinite parvulos venire ad me" or "Let the little children come to me". |
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| *Charles Champigneulle, Christ Blessing Children French, c. 1898-1900 Villejuif (Val-de-Marne), Parish Church of Saint-Cry |
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| *Henry George Alexander Holiday, Christ Blessing a Child Study for a Stained Glass Window English, Early 20th Century Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery |
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| *Henry George Alexander Holiday, Christ Blessing Children Alternate Study for a Stained Glass Window English, Early 20th Century Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery |
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| Louis Charles Champigneuille, Christ Blessing Children French, 1901 Vasoul, Church of Saint George The text at the bottom reads "Laissez venir a moi les petits enfants" or "Let the little children come to me". |
In France during the years after 1918, the windows are located in the areas of northern France that were devastated by the battles of the First World War, including the daily artillery battles that left a wide path of destruction. Many of the towns and villages of the borderlands were totally destroyed and had to be completely rebuilt following the war. The images chosen for these newly built churches (which in most cases replaced buildings that had stood for centuries) are of interest as they may reveal some of the thoughts of the people who had suffered so much in 1914-1918.
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| *Ott Freres, Christ Blessing Children French, c. 1920-1925 Saint-Bernard (Alsace), Parish Church of Saint Bernard The text in the cartouche reads: "Beati pauperes spiritu: quoniam ipsorum est regnum cælorum" or "Blessed are the poor in spirit for the kingdom of heaven is theirs" from the Beatitudes. . |
,%20Parish%20Church%20of%20the%20Sacred%20Heart.jpg) |
| *Antoine F. Bernard, Christ Blessing Children and Jesus Among the Doctors French, 1924 Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), Parish Church of the Sacred Heart This window combines the acceptance of children by the adult Jesus with the boy Jesus debating with learned doctors of the law in the temple at age twelve. The adult Jesus recognizes the potential of children to understand the faith better than many adults. The inscription on the upper scene reads "Jesus aime les enfants" or "Jesus loves the children". The lower inscription is, unfortunately, obscured by what looks like the upper part of a confessional. I can only read the first two words "Il est....." or "He is...." |
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| *Paul Rault, Christ Blessing Children French, c. 1935 Saint-Germain-en-Coglès (Brittany), Church of Saint-Germain |
It seems to me that these windows depicting Christ Blessing the Children were chosen for these rebuilds with some possible messages in mind. These could be imagined to be: a prayerful hope that new generations of children would grow up there in peace and with the blessing of God; a remembrance of children killed during the war; and, perhaps most interesting, a teaching tool about the dignity of children and the, then recent, lowering of the age of First Communion. The first two of these possible ideas seem self-explanatory. The third requires a little unpacking. Further, this idea may also relate to the windows painted and installed BEFORE the war as well.
The proper age at which children should receive the “Sacraments
of Initiation” has frequently been a topic of debate in the Catholic Church and,
following the founding of Protestant denominations, among Protestants as
well. Different Protestant denominations
follow different rules.
Catholics have discussed this question for centuries. In the early Church it appears that the three
Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Communion and Confirmation) all went
together at a very young age. Over time,
however, they were separated. Baptism
was administered to very young children, babies in fact, as it was seen as not
only the initiation of a soul into the life of grace and into membership in the
Church, but as a kind of passport, permitting one to receive the other
sacraments as well. Confirmation became
the equivalent of the Jewish bar mitzvah.
After a period of study and living in the Church, one sought
Confirmation as a seal on their new adult status in the Church. Both of these sacraments are once- and-for-all
events. They happen only once in a
lifetime. Certain other sacraments, Marriage,
and Extreme Unction, are expected to also be once only, but may be repeated due
to circumstances (widowhood and remarriage or recovery from deathly illness,
for example).
Communion or Eucharist on the other hand is a sacrament that
is meant to be repeated again and again in the life of an individual. Consequently, there has been a steady debate
over the centuries about what age it should be administered for the first time
and the preparation that is required in order to receive it. In our day it is typically given for the
first time to a child around the age of seven or eight. But it wasn’t always this way. Prior to the decree Quam singulari, issued by
Pope Saint Pius X in 1910, the practice had grown up of delaying the reception
of Holy Communion until a child was as old as 12 or 14, that is after they had
completed a course of study in the catechism and were presumed to be fully
adult in their understanding.
As Quam singulari outlines, a decree of the Fourth Lateran
Council in 1215 had placed the dating of First Confession and First Communion
at the “age of discretion”, that is when a child begins to be fully aware of
what is right and what is wrong. Lateran
Four also imposed a requirement for Confession and Communion at least once per
year on all the faithful. This decree was
upheld by the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and was, therefore, still in effect through
the succeeding centuries. However, over
time “not a few errors and deplorable abuses have crept in” 5 through
an overscrupulous application of the “age of discretion”. This overzealous application of eligibility
rules was even used to deny children who were dying from receiving Viaticum,
the last reception of Holy Communion.
The decree points out that “such precautions proceed from the errors of
the Jansenists who contended that the Most Holy Eucharist is a reward rather
than a remedy for human frailty”. Jansenism
was a movement within the Church, primarily in France, which emphasized the worthlessness
of human will in salvation. It was
quasi-Calvinist in its insistence on human depravity and salvation for only a
group of “elect”. Unlike the Calvinists,
however, it presented these views within a Catholic framework, resulting in extremely
rigid requirements for prayer, the sacraments, and devotions. It was officially suppressed in the eighteenth
century, but its influence lingered for a very long time. The document sites specific condemnations
sent by the Holy See to the bishops of France collectively and specifically to
the cities of Rouen and Strasbourg regarding this kind of attitude in the years
from 1866 to the date of the 1910 decree.
Quam singulari, therefore, definitively set the time
for First Communion as the point in time, best known to parents and pastors, at
which a child understood right from wrong and “can distinguish between the
Bread of the Eucharist and ordinary, material bread, and thus he may receive
Holy Communion with a devotion becoming his years”. In general, the age of seven became the
recognized age at which most children, if properly instructed, had sufficient understanding
to make their first Confession and receive their First Holy Communion. It is a huge event in the life of a young Catholic,
often accompanied by special clothing (white dresses and veils for the girls,
dark suits for the boys) and familial celebrations that occasionally obliterate
the serious religious nature of the event.
This decree was only four years old when the First World War
began. The disruption caused by the war,
the destruction and displacement, prevented its implementation in many parts of
the Catholic world, especially in Europe.
My own mother, born in rural Ireland in 1909, did not make her First
Communion until she was twelve, that is in 1921. As is often stated, Ireland and Irish Catholicism
was heavily influenced by Jansenist thinking, since France was about the only
place where Irish priests could be trained during the two hundred years of
penal laws that forced the Church in Ireland to go underground. Those priests returned to their Irish
homeland imbued with Jansenist ideas about the absolute corruption of humanity. If that was the situation in Ireland, it was
undoubtedly common in France itself.
Therefore, I think that, in addition to hope and memorialization,
another reason for this spate of windows
in France around 1920-1935 is a gentle reminder that Jesus loved, accepted, and
blessed small children and proposed them as a model for adults to copy. If he did this, how could adults deny them
his own Body and Blood?
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| *Georges Rouault, Christ and Children French, After 1932 Paris, Centre Pompidou |
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| +Georges Roualt, Christ and Children French, c. 1945-1949 Paris, Centre Pompidou |
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| *Georges Roualt, Christ and Children with a Green Sky French, c. 1945-1949 Paris, Centre Pompidou |
