Even though the interest of this work lies primarily in its meaning and in its iconographic value, Allegory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is also representative (though at the same time atypical) of a certain aesthetic atmosphere of the eighteenth century: the refining of the tones in a delicate range of cold greens and pearly pinks recall the Rococo world and the contrived, affected look that was popular in certain decorative and pictorial trends of the Enlightenment in the transition towards Neo-Classicism.  It is the work of Luis Paret y Alcázar, a promising painter from the second half of the century who has been largely overlooked due to misbehaviour that led to his exile from the court.

Paret brings together two different motifs in this canvas. On the one hand the triumph of the Christ Child over the World (considered one of the enemies of the soul and represented by the globe) and over the Devil (the serpent wound around it); and on the other the Sacred Heart in flames, fettered by love. In 1961, after the work was acquired from the Bosch Collection, expert Xavier de Salas mentioned the probably intentional ugliness of the Christ Child and of the heads of the accompanying angels, in contrast with the exquisite delicacy of the flowers and other details such as the small birds on the branch. Yet beyond the visual aspects and the surprising decision of the artist to apply a style typical of courtly painting to a religious theme, the most notable aspect is perhaps the iconography, as it was in the 18^th century that the motif of the Sacred Heart was ultimately established as an independent devotional object, even though it had emerged in the second half of the previous century. 

The motif first came from a great Counter-Reformist tradition magnified by the Baroque. The theme of the Sacred Heart associated with Christ’s childhood is a frequent motif in religious iconography, ranging from an engraving by Jerôme Wierix from 1610 to the compositions of Antonio de Pereda (1644, Church of Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, Madrid; circa1640, Church of Arc et Senans) and of Antonio van de Pere (1669, Cathedral, Alcalá de Henares) – even though the Christ Child was nearly always depicted hugging the cross in order to portray the sacrifice needed for redemption more clearly.

The new feature of the eighteenth century lies in the ‘loving’ treatment given to the child. Salas rightly sensed everything that Peret owed, consciously or unwittingly, to François Boucher in such compositions. Along with Child of Passion of the Dukes of Sueca, also published by Salas, and another work in San Clemente Convent in Toledo, this painting is very strong proof of the courtly devotion of that time and of Paret’s contrived art when working on something that was obviously not of his choice.

Commentary updated by Carlos Martín.

Alfonso Pérez Sánchez