This crèche, or Nativity scene, tells the story of Jesus Christ’s birth using more than 200 painted terracotta figures staged in an elaborate environment inspired by 18th-century Naples. The upper register of the crèche contains the main characters of the Nativity—the Holy Family (Mary, Joseph, and Jesus) and the Three Wise Men, along with angels and shepherds. Surrounding them are scenes of Neapolitan daily life, including a raucous tavern, a bucolic pasture, and a street crowded with vendors.
Naples. Restricted gifts of Mr. and Mrs. James N. Bay and Linda and Vincent Buonanno and Family; Eloise W. Martin Legacy Fund; restricted gifts of Ruth Ann Gillis and Michael McGuinnis and Mrs. Robert O. Levitt; Charles H. and Mary F. Worcester Collection Fund
These representations celebrate Naples as a cosmopolitan port city that included people from all walks of life. They also demonstrate the lens of exoticism through which many Europeans viewed visitors from other lands, non-Christians, and people of color. Though Naples had long been home to people from throughout the Islamic world, here they are shown as foreigners, confined to the biblical scene in the upper register and wearing turbans and billowing trousers that contrast with the rustic Neapolitan garb of the figures below.
Enlivening ancient biblical stories with modern costume and scenery is typical in the crèche genre and, more broadly, in European religious art since the Renaissance. By highlighting the vibrant social fabric of Baroque Naples, the crèche invites viewers to witness the miraculous amid the mundane and to delight in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Neapolitan Crèche | Artwork Spotlight
Due to the fragility of the original silk costumes and exquisite embroidery, the Neapolitan crèche can only be on view for a few weeks every year. Don’t miss your chance to revel in Baroque artistry this season!
The Characters and Setting of the Crèche
Explore some of the key figures and scenes throughout the crèche which depict the biblical narrative of the birth of Jesus as well as daily life in 18th-century Naples.
The Holy Family
At the center of the crèche, Mary holds the infant Jesus on her lap beneath a humble structure made of twigs and wooden fragments. Her spouse, Joseph, stands behind her in a yellow cloak. These three are the only characters wearing haloes and Classical draperies rather than contemporary Neapolitan dress.
The Angels
In the Nativity story told in the Gospel of Luke, an angel appears to a group of shepherds to announce that a savior, Jesus Christ, will be born. Many more angels then appear, praising the savior and wishing peace and good will. Visualizing this moment, one of the angels above Joseph holds a silver scroll with the Latin phrase Gloria in excelsis Deo (“Glory to God in the highest”).
The Three Wise Men
As a member of the Three Wise Men, Balthasar presents the Holy Family with an ornate vessel of myrrh, a tree-derived resin historically used as medicine or perfume. Beginning in the Middle Ages, some artists portrayed Balthasar as a black African ruler; this became more common after 1450 as the number of sub-Saharan Africans in European cities grew due to the Atlantic slave trade. At the time this figure was made, there were many black Africans in Naples, both enslaved and free.
La Georgiana
Part of the Magi’s entourage from Asia, the woman with fair skin and blond hair is a traditional crèche figure known as La Georgiana because she hails from Georgia, located in the Caucasus Mountains. She wears Turkish attire that like the costumes of several other identifiable figures, is meant to signal the presence of non-European visitors among the cast of Neapolitans.
The Setting and Influence of Antiquities
To the right of the Holy Family, Classical ruins crumble around a carefully studied miniature of the Farnese Hercules, an ancient Roman sculpture that once belonged to the royal family in Naples. As Hercules was considered a pagan precursor to Jesus, this imagery symbolizes the triumph of Christianity over earlier religions. It may also have alluded to the tensions between Christians and Muslims in 18th-century Naples.
The Tavern
Cured meats dangle overhead and vendors outside sell local delicacies such as shellfish, chestnuts, and ricotta cheese. In this vivid snapshot of urban life in 18th-century Naples, the tavern serves as a contemporary stand-in for the inn that turned away Mary and Joseph.
The Creation of the Crèche: From Naples to Chicago
Many hands and materials came together to create the Art Institute’s crèche. Its hundreds of miniatures, which vary slightly in size and style, were made by a range of Neapolitan artists working from the 1700s through the 1800s. Some were renowned sculptors and painters, while others were part-time craftspeople, including nuns and textile manufacturers. Made for both private and public viewing, at scales both grand and intimate, crèches are customizable by design: collectors could accumulate and rearrange figures and scenic elements to suit the tastes and needs of the time. In 18th-century Naples, large crèches like this one were displayed in churches and royal palaces, where they served as conversation pieces, spiritual aids, and even tourist attractions.
The group of miniatures shown here was originally collected by Vincenzo Porcini, an art dealer in Naples. In 2011 he hired Alfredo Laino, a specialist in Neapolitan crèche scenography, to design and construct the detailed setting from materials including cork and papier-mâché. Laino also built the cabinet out of salvaged historical components. In 2013 the entire créche was shipped from Naples to Chicago in 14 crates and reassembled on site by Laino and a team of experts.
Sponsors
The Art Institute of Chicago is grateful to the following individuals for their generous support of the Neapolitan crèche:
Mr. and Mrs. James N. Bay for sponsoring The Nativity, The Three Wise Men and Their Courts and Treasures, and The Musicians and Dancers
Linda and Vincent Buonanno and Family for sponsoring The Heavenly Host in memory of Vincent Buonanno Jr.
The Eloise W. Martin Legacy Fund for sponsoring The Taverna
Ruth Ann Gillis and Michael McGuinnis for sponsoring The Cabinet in honor of Mr. and Mrs. James N. Bay
Mrs. Robert O. Levitt for sponsoring La Georgiana and Her Companions
