1727
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
The Infant Christ asleep, adored by two angels is a 1727 paint by Agostino Cornacchini, a Baroque work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a sleeping baby Jesus with two angels kneeling nearby. The scene glows in soft light, their faces calm and gentle. One angel holds a golden chalice, a quiet symbol of sacrifice. Here, Cornacchini mixes religious comfort with quiet drama. The baby’s relaxed posture feels real, not posed. The angels’ devotion shows through small details, like folded wings and lowered heads. Look for similar warmth in Cornacchini, Agostino’s work.
The artwork depicts the sleeping Christ Child, identified by a halo of golden rays, reclining on blue drapery with a red and gold tasseled pillow beneath his head. Two winged angels observe the scene, framed within a revival of classical encaustic painting technique. Cornacchini employed wax applied flat rather than in relief, a method he claimed to have innovated, though the technique's challenges result in a less refined finish compared to his drawings and sculptures. This work represents an early instance of the 18th-century revival of encaustic painting, a process using molten wax mixed…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Agostino Cornacchini was an Italian sculptor and painter of the Rococo period, active mainly in Rome. His masterpiece is the equestrian statue of Charlemagne.
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