Ansiaux’s deliberate use of lighting immediately draws
the eye not only to Christ and the children, but also to their mother. As
Christ reaches gently forward, the mother too reaches gently to urge her
children toward Him. Even her red and blue garments harmoniously mirror Christ’s.
In contrast, Christ’s own disciples stand back, painted in darker, duller
colors to illustrate their mistake. The image emphasizes the role of our first
spiritual leaders—not our priests but our parents. The image’s unusual focus
sets it apart from the countless older paintings of this encounter.
Though the image of Christ blessing children is now
commonplace, before the 1500s only a handful of paintings depicted this scene.
Artists began painting the scene more frequently to combat the Anabaptists’
denial of infant baptism. Additionally, while earlier works focused on older
children, post-Reformation paintings generally include even infants, as does
this picture.
