The Art Institute’s spectacular 18th-century Neapolitan crèche returns once again this holiday season.
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.
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!
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.
Meet the Characters of the NEAPOLITAN CRÈCHE
Explore some of the key figures and scenes throughout the crèche, which depicts the biblical narrative of the birth of Jesus as well as daily life in 18th-century Naples.