The Creches of Italy

The Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven has made in recent years a valuable contribution to the preservation and dissemination of the Catholic art of the Christmas season. The latest in their series of exhibits of Christmas creches deals with Italy – where the tradition was created by St Francis of Assisi and where it reached its most elaborate form.

The focus of this exhibit is on the manger scenes of Naples – the most elaborate of all. Above, the Holy Family amidst the ruins of the pagan world.

Most of the Neapolitan exhibits come from the firm of Bottega D’Arte Presepiale Cantone & Costabile, Naples, which works in the style of the 18th century. Antonio Cantone and his firm created the main creche on exhibit (photo at the beginning of this article)in about a year of work. He has a more ancient, even medieval, understanding of his work as an artist: “I am using art to express my religion.”

(Above and below) At its most elaborate the Neapolitan creche places the coming of Christ in a minute depiction of the world of the everyday life the people: their occupations, their pleasures, their food and their different social classes. As the Byzantine rite proclaims:”Christ is in our midst!”

The exuberance, naturalism and symbolic content of Baroque art – the last great manifestation of Christian art to succeed in shaping an entire culture and which survives even in our day in the Neapolitan creche- – seems at times to have perplexed whoever wrote the otherwise informative notes to this exhibit. We find there references to a supposed tension between the elaborate creche scenes and the simplicity of the Holy Family; the scenes of the people are supposedly not representative of the misery of the people of that time. As if that were the purpose of these figures! Ancient ruins are depicted in manger scenes, according to this source, because they lay about everywhere in Campania and, moreover, the 18th century craze for Pompeii and its art was getting underway.

(Above) The innkeepers who excluded the Holy Family (including an 18th century holy image on the wall!). (Below) Once again the theme of the supersession of the ancient pagan world by the coming of Christ.

(Above and below) In contrast to the preceding genre scenes is the outpouring of the Divine encountered in the presence of the Holy Family and angels.

(Above) the Museum also is showed a selection of creches from other regions and cultures that take up the baroque theme. Here is a life size figure carved by Agustin Parra in Guadalajara, Mexico

(Above and below) Figures from a Nativity scene created by a Sicilian artist.

An exhibit at the Knights of Columbus Museum – 1 State Street, New Haven, Connecticut. Now throughout February 1! See HERE for further information and directions.

For the Firm of Arte Presepiale Cantone et Costabile see HERE.