Infant Christ Lying on a Bed of Straw 1662

Editor: This is Claude Mellan’s "Infant Christ Lying on a Bed of Straw." It’s quite moving, but those cherubic faces emerging from the clouds seem to carry a sense of sorrow. What symbols do you see at play here? Curator: Indeed. Straw is a symbol of Christ’s humility, his willing embrace of poverty, while the swaddling clothes prefigure the burial shroud. The angels act as witnesses to the event, representing divine acknowledgement. Editor: Witnesses to both birth and death, then? Curator: Precisely. Consider how Mellan uses light and shadow. Light, here, is not just illumination, it's revelation. It exposes both divine innocence and earthly vulnerability. Editor: I never thought of straw carrying so much meaning. Curator: It’s a reminder that even in the humblest of circumstances, divinity can be found, and that symbols carry profound cultural weight.