December 13, 2005

lecture series at partnership with the Ateneo Navarro

CHRISTMAS IN THE ARTS

700 years of Spanish Nativity Scenes

Dr. Letizia Arbeteta Mira

Adoration of the Magi. Convent of Augustinian Recollect Nuns of Pamplona. 1731.

One of the most deeply rooted traditions in Christianity is the making of the so-called "cribs" or "Nativity scenes" at Christmas time. The nativity scene consists of a stage with mobile figures, which is temporarily assembled to evoke the birth of Christ. The history of how it originated and how it has evolved into the forms we know today spans more than a millennium, with its antecedent in the worship of the relic of the manger where Jesus was born. The development of the medieval theater of the Christmas and Epiphany cycle and the favorable reception by the ecclesiastical orders, following a well-known episode in the life of St. Francis of Assisi, are other factors in its expansion throughout the Christian world.

As for Spain, there are indications that already in the 13th century there were figurative representations of sacred scenes, including those of the cycle of the infancy of Jesus, and that the nativity scene as such is shaped parallel to that of Italy, where it originated.

At the end of the XV century it already contains in our country the main elements and, throughout the XVI and XVII centuries, it is introduced in the scopes of the private and familiar devotion. In Palma de Mallorca is also preserved one of the oldest European nativity scenes in use, whose magnificent figures have been attributed to the Alamanno family, author also of the first Neapolitan nativity scenes, made in the fifteenth century.

However, the traditional nativity scene is not realistic, since it consists of a symbolic representation that captures the mystical vision of Creation and its Creator in the mystery of the Incarnation, which reached its maximum splendor in the Baroque period. This vision was replaced in the 18th century by the picturesque and anecdotal costumbrismo of the Rococo taste.

Perhaps this point may explain the absurd and widespread belief that the tradition of making nativity scenes was introduced in Spain by Charles III.

Finally, the orientalist fashions of the 19th century evolved into the current attempts to reproduce the atmosphere of Judea two thousand years ago. In addition to religious, the nativity scene has a whole series of iconographic, artistic, ethnographic, sociological and historical values that should not be overlooked when undertaking programs of study related to these themes. Great sculptors of all ages have created figures and scenes related to the nativity scene, while monarchs and great personages have enjoyed this endearing tradition. The lecture, illustrated with more than a hundred images, showed each and every aspect of the evolution of the nativity scene in Spain.