Type Wooden image Created 1902 | Date 1902 | |
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Witness Marquise Delphina Gavotti of SavonaPrior John of the Cross Shrine Basilica of Bambino Gesu of Arenzano | ||
The Bambino Gesu of Arenzano locally known as Il Grande Piccinino (Lit: Child Jesus of Arenzano, the Great Little Child) is a Roman Catholic devotional image depicting the Child Jesus venerated by the Genoese faithful.
The image takes its iconography from the Infant Jesus of Prague which was brought by the Carmelite Order who wanted to propagate its devotion in the area. The feast of the image is celebrated each September 1. Various miraculous claims are associated with the image by its pilgrims, now preserved within the basilica.
History
The image was donated by the Marquise Delphina Gavotti of Savona and was presented to the built shrine on 2 June 1902. It replaced a picture image of the Infant Jesus of Prague brought by the Carmelite Order on 25 September 1900, which was located beneath the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Pope Pius XI granted a Canonical coronation to the venerated image on 7 September 1924 via his Papal legate Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val. The solemn ceremony was attended by many notable prelates, namely the young seminarian at the time, Cardinal Giuseppe Siri and Queen Margherita of Savoy.
The same Pontiff raised the sanctuary to the status of a Minor Basilica on 6 May 1928 through an Apostolic decree signed by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, where the image is permanently enshrined today.