Collection of Nativity Scenes in San Martino Museum

In Catholic countries, there is a tradition on the eve of the Christmas holidays to exhibit compositions of uncultured miniatures depicting scenes from the Gospel related to this event, which were called nativity scenes. Initially, nativity scenes were made in monasteries, in the 17th century they appeared in the homes of aristocrats, and then their production was established by artisans and they became a mandatory Christmas attribute in any home. The traditional Neapolitan nativity scene differs from others in that it depicts not only biblical scenes, but also the life of ordinary people: caring for animals, cooking, the work of artisans, market trade, recreation and entertainment. I must say that in Naples, nativity scenes are of great importance, they begin to be installed on December 8, but the figure of the baby Jesus fits into the cradle only by the night of December 24. And Christmas trees began to be put here only in the 50s of the 20th century. The National Museum of San Martino has a large collection of nativity scenes from the 17th century to modern ones. The largest nativity scene "Cuciniello" (Cuciniello) presents 162 figures of people, 80 figures of animals and angels, and more than 450 other objects.

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