Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Ecce Dominator Advenit

This has got to be the grandest, most lavishly dressed image of the Santo Nino I have ever seen so far. It is around two feet tall, and is clothed with either beaten gold or heavily plated with it. I've seen so many Ninos with fancy robes before, but this is just outrageous, in a good way.



Title comes from Malachias 3:1 "Behold the Lord the Ruler is come: and the Kingdom is in His Hand, and power, and dominion." This verse, along with Psalm 71:2, make up the introit for the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. It is also used during the feast day of the Santo Nino de Cebu every 21st of January.

6 comments:

The Hymn Selector said...

The hair looks way too longand girlish. Stunning robes though.

Archistrategos said...

Yup, I definitely agree about the hair. Plus I can do without the brooch thingy on his forehead. Stll, the robes and the nimbus are pretty stunning.

Andrew said...

Stunning. I wonder if they have a larger version of the robe I can buy. I have a Marian statue and a Sacred Heart statue I would like to clothe with it =)

The Santo Nino's I've seen in Malaysia don't have long hair but look very similar to the Infant Jesus of Prague.

Archistrategos said...

@ Andrew,

I think the robe itself is a custom piece. I know that many collectors here in the Philippines take great pride in spending lavishly on these devotional images, and given the piety of the Filipino, I'm sure it cost a ton of money. If I had that kind of cash, I'd probably doing the same thing, lol. BTW, that is a nice image of the Sacred Heart. I notice the eyes look a bit Chinese? Also, most of the sacred art here was done by Chinese artisans. Thus, many 'santos' in the Philippines look more Asian than European, hehe.

Andrew said...

Hmmm....He did not seem Chinese before but now that you mention it... =)

Archistrategos said...

FYI, the 'nimbus' or the sun beams behind his head are not very common in statuary of Our Lord; often, the tres potencias--the three rays protruding from his head-- are used. Just a bit of info =)