Exvote

Representation of a boy standing, dressed in a brocaded baize with a brocaded collar, sleeves and lower edge with lace; the skirt is covered by a fine apron of silk and lace. Her feet are covered by shoes with small rectangular buckles. At the waist there is a belt on which, following the customs of the time, several amulets are placed. From right to left they are: a bell (which the infant holds in his left hand), a glass sucker, a rattle in the shape of a mermaid and a pentagonal bag. On his right hand rests a little bird, held by a string. In the upper right corner, a red curtain, and to the left of the composition, among clouds, a recumbent male figure, probably of Christ, an image to which the canvas must be dedicated since, as the legend indicates, it is an object of gratitude for favours received. \It is possible to establish numerous parallels between this anonymous painting and the portraits of Spanish children and infants painted throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, which undoubtedly must have inspired its author: from the Portrait of the infant Don Diego, painted by Sánchez Coello in 1577 to that of the noble Luis, son of Doña Antonia de Ipeñarrieta y Galdós, painted by Velázquez between 1631-1632, including the Portrait of a child of the Palafox family, signed in 1643 by an anonymous artist, or the portrait of Prince Felipe Próspero, also by Velázquez, painted around 1659. As is well known, both the infant Don Diego and Felipe Próspero were born with very fragile health, so that they died at a very young age. The amulets they wore did little to prolong their lives. Nevertheless, the use of such protective objects was maintained in our country among all social classes until well into the twentieth century.