When my husband took me to Paris the museums were breathtaking. I was stunned in the Louvre when I saw this sculpture in bas-relief.
Created in 1665 it moved me almost to tears. Depiction of Jesus as a baby playing with nails and a hammer. Well of course, Joseph was a carpenter, but what absolute inspiration for Bernini!
In case you missed it, the head of the hammer is between his hands, under the nail. The longer I ponder it, the more poignant this sculpture is for me.
The very idea of creating something like this from marble amazes me. How this inspiration came to him brings more fascination.
These photos were downloaded from the Louvre online site. If you ever get to travel there, be certain to look for this one!
It took me quite a while to find the name of the sculpture, especially since it was in French. L’Enfant Jésus jouant avec un Clou Was fairly certain I remembered the name Bernini. Turns out there are at least two Berninis made famous by artwork! If you want to read the inspiration this created in another blogger, click here https://parkerwindle.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-baby-who-plays-with-nails.html
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 
I am constantly astounded at what they could do with marble. I doubt there’s a sculptor alive today who would even consider doing it, let alone have the ability to do it.
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