Christian semantics in the 16-17th centuries Spanish child portrait of the representatives of ruling dynasty

Christian world interpretation, world outlook, relations, certainly, lay in the foundation of many, if not all, forms of culture as of middle ages, so of early modern time in West Europa. It and, specifically, Christian relation to infant, motivated the character of interpretation of infant and specific features of interpretation of model’s image in Western European child portrait. The author speaks first of all of representative portraits of members of powerful family and of powerful dynasty, princes and princesses, “infantes” and “infantas” of Spain. By using the comparative method of analysis, the author compares the child images in religious art and secular child portraits of Spanish artistic school in iconography aspect. There is a Christian basis in the interpretation of child model iconography in the art of catholic countries, and most of all, of Spain. Infants were likened to saint children and their iconography was put in parallel to the iconography of saints, images took the religious connotation.