This 21" sacred art statue is made by Mazzolini Artcraft Co. Statue is hand painted with special attention to face and hands. Included are four changes of clothing for the change of the Liturgical Seasons. (A few chips on the hair but otherwise is in good condition.)

When the Sisters of the Holy Family were Sacristans in San Francisco at St. Mary's Cathedral; there was a Statue of the Infant of Prague whose robes were changed for major liturgical feasts. The Assistant Sacristan was always complaining to the Sister-in-charge that "little boys shouldn't be wearing fancy dresses. How would he play outside wearing all these fancy clothes!"

One day, Sister went in to get the robe she was to change the Infant into and on a hanger amidst the robes, was a small pair of jeans, a small red and white cowboy skirt, and a neckerchief, No one would ever own up to putting them there. 

The statue of the original Infant of Prague is a statue of Jesus Christ as a child. It is 18 ½ inches tall (47 cm) and is made of wax on a wooden core. It is kept at the Church of Our Lady Victorious at Mala Strana, Prague, in the Czech Republic. The statue has its origins in the early 17th century in Spain. Maria Manrique de Lara, a Spanish princess, was going to far-away Prague to be married to Czech nobleman Vojtech of Pernstejn. Maria's mother, Isabella, gave her daughter the statue as a wedding gift. Later, Maria gave it to her own daughter Polyxena as a wedding gift. The statue was later given as a gift to a convent of the Discalced Carmelites near the church in Prague where the statue is now kept.

In 1631 the Protestant Swedes sacked the city of Pragueand the Infant of Prague statue was taken from its place of honor and thrown onto a rubbish heap behind the altar, its hands broken off. It was forgotten for seven years before Father Cyril a Matre Dei found it and raised money to repair it. The statue became associated with a number of miracles, and also with the protection of Prague from the Swedes.

The Infant of Prague statue has historically been kept dressed in vestments marking the status of Jesus as a Priest and King. Grateful petitioners to the Child Jesus have given the statue many sets of lovely and elaborate gowns. Currently there are 70 gowns for the statue.

Why does the statue depict the Child Jesus? Devotion to the Childhood of Jesus began very early in church history. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is not just a good teacher or a Son of God in the sense that we are all sons and daughters of God, but that Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Imagine God Almighty choosing to take on the limitations of becoming a man, laying down His power and becoming one of us. Imagine still further the humility involved in not only being a man, but being a child, an infant, a fetus, an embryo. All of this is what Jesus did for us. Devotion to the Child Jesus is a way to remind the Christian of this fact.