On the trail of Italy’s manger-scene hoppers
ITALIANS have been erecting Nativity scenes for a very long time – St Francis of Assisi is credited wit h setting up the ver y first one on Christmas Eve in 1223, in the town of Greccio, north of Rome.
So they’ve had a lot of practice, and it shows. Many Italian churches put up tableaus of the birth of Jesus Christ that are so elaborate and beautiful, and so varied in approach, that visiting a number of them has become a popular holiday social activity.
Rome, with its churches and chapels by the score, has an especially rich Nativity-scene scene.
One of the most beloved is at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli al Campidoglio, with its life-size figures, dramatic lighting and elaborate backdrop, painted in 1820.
Scenes in a crowded Neapolitan style are common. The one at the Basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano, under the care of the Interior Ministry’s Fondo Edifici di Culto, dates from the 18th century, a golden age for the craft.
They are full of wood, terracotta and porcelain figurines depicting not just the holy family but also the trades and fashions of the time. Artisans in shops along the Via San Gregorio Armeno in Naples continue the tradition today, and sometimes include contemporary celebrities.
Not all of the most popular scenes are housed in churches. Giuseppe Ianni, 80, a retired street cleaner in Rome, began building a scene in a city-owned garage in 1972, and it has since grown to 275 figures. “It’s been seen by thousands, including three saints,” said Ianni, naming Mother Teresa and popes Paul VI and John Paul II, who have been canonised.
Instead of the customary donation, Ianni asks visitors to give him a stone from their home countries to plaster to a wall in the scene. They’re also “asked to pray for peace”, he said.
The Nativity figures that are believed to be the oldest in existence were sculpted by Arnolfo di Cambio for Pope Nicholas IV in 1291. They were once displayed in a replica of the Holy Grotto in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which also houses what the faithful believe is a relic of Jesus’ manger. These days, they are in the basilica’s museum.
“The Roman Nativity scene typically reproduces the 19th-century city, with costumes and neighbourhoods that no longer exist, often inspired by watercolours of the time,” said Antonella Salvatori, of the Italian Friends of the Nativity Scene Association.
The association’s museum has more than 3,000 scenes from around the world.
The Nativity scene in the church of Santa Barbara dei Librai exactly depicts the piazza just outside the church. Though the scene was created in 2005 by a group of parishioners and artisans, it is peopled (as most historically inspired scenes are) with a broad cast of characters from 17th-century Rome.
There is a bookseller, a baker, a codfish vendor and even Caspar Van Wittel, a Dutch painter known for the views of Rome he painted from about 1670.
St Peter’s Square in the Vatican has a Nativity scene every year, naturally, and this year’s was created by Maltese artist Manwel Grech. The scene includes a replica of a luzzu, a traditional Maltese boat.
Pope Francis saw in it “the sad and tragic reality of migrants” crossing the Mediterranean from Africa in search of a better life, and said he hoped all those who visited the scene would “rediscover its symbolic value”.
It offers, he added, “a message of fraternity, of sharing, of welcome and solidarity”.