It was not until sculpture became more sophisticated and the rise of famed artists such as Michaelo and Leonardo that the image of praying Jesus became a hallmark in many different religious homes. These images captured the minds and hearts of the follows of the Christian faiths because of the humanity that is displayed in Jesus at this point. Up until this point, Jesus was almost too self-righteous for most people to be able to relate to. The praying Jesus showed his fears, his concerns and his humanity, allowing more people to connect to him in a way that was not previously possible.



Since the Renaissance period, it has been very popular for people to keep miniatures of the different statues that were found within the Christian churches and museums, including the praying Jesus. These miniatures later grew in complexity and detail, rivaling the full scale images that spawned their creation. These images were created out of a large number of materials, enabling them to be used in almost every décor and allowing them to be durable enough to survive being left outside in people's gardens year round. This brought a sense of peace and meditation to the gardens that most people previously viewed as simply being decorative.



In recent years, the number of Praying Jesus statues has decreased in favor of the Virgin Mother statues. This may be due to the reminder of the pain and fear that Jesus experienced before his death or it may be due to the beauty associated with the images of the Virgin Mary, including her most common form as the Lady of Guatemala. As more Christians, especially Catholics, begin to leave the churches as prayer centers and begin to use their homes as a center for prayer, there is an increase in the numbers of statues being sold. This includes the number of Jesus statues that are being sold for the garden. This can be interpreted as the people coming home to their roots where Christians practiced their faith in their homes and did not make a show of the faith. This also may be a means of reconnecting with the humanity of the religion that is being lost through the political and legal turmoil that is occurring within the church.