Infant of Prague vestments

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I have an older Infant of Prague statue that was given to my parents (by my grandparents) when they bought their first home in the 1950’s. Many years ago, it was placed in a storage room, where the original vestments were destroyed by mice.

Several years ago, I asked my mom if I could have it - and I have displayed it in a protected cabinet in my living room with just its original adornments (crown, cross & globe) - but no gown.

Every time my mother visits, she insists that He’s “naked” and that he shouldn’t be displayed as such. I think it’s a beautiful statue as it is.

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  • Is there a “protocol” for dressing these statues? (I found … this site … and love the detailed guidance but wondering if it is disrespectful to get creative/not stick to the typical Infant of Prague gowns.)
  • Does it even matter if they are clothed? (As you can see, my statue has a simple gown cast into it.)
Another question:
  • I’m certain that my grandparents had this item blessed before they gave it to my parents. Do blessings on these types of items “stick” between households if they were given (not sold)?
 
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I think I would probably want to find a robe for the statue, but I don’t see anything necessarily wrong with it as it is since it’s in your own home. I know several people who have these statutes in their homes and they don’t change the robe based on the Liturgical season.

Just my .02. I’m interested in what others have to say.
 
It’s not indecent or disrespectful to display the Infant as you are doing. Good on you for getting him out of the storage room and back on display.

However, it’s a bit odd to see an Infant of Prague with no vestment. The Infant of Prague represents the baby King of the World. As such, he traditionally appears in a kingly robe. He wouldn’t be going around in just a white shift and a big elaborate crown, that’s not how kings appear. He looks like he just rolled out of bed to be honest. The plain white shift would be more appropriate for an ordinary Child Jesus statue or a bambinelli for a Christmas manger. If it were mine, I would put a robe on him.

Some people did like to change the robes on the Infant to different colors with the liturgical seasons or for special holidays. It’s not necessary though. You could just choose or make one nice robe in your favorite color and let him wear that one all the time. If you wanted to make a “creative” robe, that would probably be okay, but make it something kingly if he’s going to have that crown and orb.
 
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My problem with the elaborate robes is that they mostly appear to be the wrong scale. Other than that, I find them lovely.
 
Terrific replies here! The links are all interesting too.
Thank you

It’s been a while since I’ve used my sewing machine & serger - (my serger model can do some decorative stitching) - so I’ve just purchased the pattern from eBay. We’ll see.
Tis_Bearself said:
He looks like he just rolled out of bed to be honest.
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This made me giggle - but now that it’s been raised, I see that being in a simple robe is out of sync with his crown & kingly stature.

Anyone have thoughts on if a blessing stays “intact” if the item has been passed down within a family/not sold?
 
Sorry, I forgot about the blessing part.
I believe the blessing stays intact if the item is not sold. I have blessed things of my mother’s including a rosary blessed by the Pope that I gave her, and when she died I took it back but I don’t think I need to get the Pope to bless it again.
 
Wow! To think that there were once enough ladies making vestments for their Child of Prague statues that McCall’s (!!!) created a pattern for it. My word.
 
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The “outfits” in the link are beautiful, but I still think they are scaled terribly. They are too large for the statue. The statue looks like a tiny head sitting on top of a huge robe.
 
mrsdizzyd said:
there were once enough ladies making vestments for their Child of Prague statues that McCall’s (!!!) created a pattern for it.
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Were they likely making vestments
  1. to go with the seasons, or because
  2. the statues didn’t come with vestments, or was it like the OP that
  3. new vestments were needed as the old ones were ruined by time and nature?
 
Irishmom2 said:
The “outfits” in the link are beautiful, but I still think they are scaled terribly. They are too large for the statue. The statue looks like a tiny head sitting on top of a huge robe.
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Some of the Papal Copes are spectacular. Pope Benedict occasionally wore them. Consider:

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Not even close, lol! 🙂
 
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I dunno. If the pope’s vestments can be this grand:

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How much more so could Christ’s be? 😉
 
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They are rather full I know. I think if the length was shortened they would hang down more naturally rather than being flared out as they are in the photos, and the choice of fabric also is a factor affecting how it hangs.
 
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Digitnomy said:
Were they likely making vestments
  1. to go with the seasons, or because
  2. the statues didn’t come with vestments, or was it like the OP that
  3. new vestments were needed as the old ones were ruined by time and nature?
Click to expand...
It’s the type of thing that nice old grannies would make to go on the Infant of Prague statue at church, or as a hobby. You could buy the statues with vestments, but the vestments made it more expensive. And yes sometimes the old vestments got ruined, or just old-looking; many of them weren’t made of materials one could launder easily.

It also wasn’t some big unusual thing in the days when a lot of ladies sewed and would use their skills for the parish. You can find old McCalls patterns for priest’s cassocks and other stuff too. There used to be patterns for everything.
 
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