Fanal with Christ Child reclined, with halo and river pearls

This Child has been placed resting next to a double pedestal, flanked by two porcelain animals and surrounded by a number of fabric and wool-flower bouquets in contrasting colors, as well as a small lyre. In front, squirrels, birds and a bunch of river pearls and twigs. Child Jesus is wearing a white embroidered robe and His head crowned with a silver segmented halo and pearls that exalts His emanating radiance.
The Museo de Artes de la Universidad de los Andes, Santiago de Chile, exhibits a group of 16 "fanales". A "fanal" is a structure that consists of a wooden base on which a bell glass or bell jar is mounted, used in Europe during the eighteenth century for scientific and decorative purposes. When transferred to Latin America it takes a totally different character: a “fanal” becomes a devotional object from the moment a religious Christian figure is placed in the inside.