I PRESEPI DI IGNAZIELLA 2015

Some of you may remember that last year, my friend Ignaziella started making her own Christmas cribs.  I am pleased to be able to report that this year she is continuing to create these beautiful objects and here are some of them:

And here is the fabric tree she has made to decorate her shop window:

I PRESEPI DI IGNAZIELLA - 2

My friend Ignaziella has been making more beautiful cribs and doing other handiwork for Christmas. I'll let the images speak for themselves:

And here's the crib she made for me!

I PRESEPI DI IGNAZIELLA

"Come round here", said Ignaziella the newsagent's wife when I went into her shop to pick up a magazine this morning.  "I've got something to show you."

Smiling mysteriously she led me to the back of the shop, deftly and with a magician's flourish removed a large piece of padded material which was covering something large and revealed the cribs that she has been making.  Aren't they pretty?

She's making smaller ones like these, too.

And she's also made this friendly note-book holder:

Almost every home in Italy displays a crib at Christmas and this year I'll be displaying one of Ignaziella's!

A PAPAL BESTSELLER

In the lovely church of Santa Maria di Betlemme in Modica Bassa there is an exquisite terracotta presepe [crib] made in 1882. It has 66 statuettes and the onlookers at the nativity scene are depicted as Sicilian countrymen and women. It is an absolutely stunning sight.

You will see a crib in nearly every Sicilian home at this time of year and some of the figurines will be family heirlooms. The custom of filling the crib with statuettes dressed in Sicilian costume continues and I think this must make it easier for children to identify with the characters. The Holy Family, though, are depicted traditionally and one figurine, that of the baby Jesus, is not added to the scene until Christmas Eve.

In Sicily the city of Caltagirone is particularly famous for the craftsmanship of its cribs but, as many of you will know, the "crib capital" of Italy is Napoli. The tradition began there in the Baroque era of the 18th century, when the carving of wooden figurines was elevated to an art form.  Now, in the via San Gregorio Armeno, you can find not only traditional figurines and figurines inspired by Italian country life, but representations of politicians, royals and celebrities. 

So who is "in" and who is "out" [literally] in this year's cribs? Well, Silvio Berlusconi, who has been prominent among the figurines for decades, and who was even represented, in the past, alongside figurines of some of the ladies who, at the very least, enjoyed his parties, features less often in 2013. If you must, however, you can still find a figurine of him holding a card declaring, "Sono decaduto" ["I have decayed" and a reference to his decadenza - fall from power]. You can also add the entire Napoli football squad to your decorations and representations - complete with his beloved iPhone - of Matteo Renzi, the Mayor of Florence and recently elected leader of the Democratic Party, are said to be selling well. Figurines of Nelson Mandela are available, as you would expect, but the overall bestsellers this year are figurines of Papa Francesco - a worthy winner, in my opinion.

This year the Archdiocese of Naples has the honour, for the first time, of sponsoring the Vatican's Nativity Scene, which will be unveiled in St Peter's Square on Christmas Eve. The background has been inspired by the Campania countryside and the figurines have been crafted in 18th century Neapolitan tradition by Antonio Cantone of Cantone & Costabile. The scene is entitled Francesco 1223 - Francesco 2013, a reference to the date when St Francis created a living crib in Greccio and, of course, to the current, popular Pope.

ADVENT IN MODICA

Sobrietà, or austerity, has certainly hit the modern Sorda area of Modica where I live:  there are few Christmas lights, many businesses are closing and there is no seasonal atmosphere at all.  Down in the historic centre of Modica Bassa, though, it's a different story and I liked this depiction of the Three Wise Men on their journey:  it is made totally of natural materials and has been set up in the main square, Piazza Matteotti:

 I especially took to this fellow

 and I like the way the palm trees have been decorated, too:

But where were the Modicani this evening?  Were they all admiring the crib?  They were not:  they had rushed en masse to La Fortezza, the city's first big shopping mall.  Judging by the hour-long traffic jam on the road approaching it and the number of people there, Modicans are about to follow the British in adopting shopping as their Sunday hobby.  

La Fortezza has three floors of stores and eateries and a nifty moving floor that you can take your trolley on to get to the top.  This evening there was even entertainment and I must say they serve a good portion of calories-don't-count-'cos-you're-out chips on the second floor.

I have just one plea for the Comune:  how about putting a bus on so that those of us without cars can actually get there?

AN OLDER NATIVITY SCENE

Writing about the crib inside the Church of Santa Maria di Betlem yesterday, I was reminded that you can see another nativity scene along one of the exterior walls of the church.  This is the lunetta del Berlon, so called because it was originally part of the Church of Santa Maria di Berlon, one of four churches which the larger Santa Maria di Betlem replaced. The lunette dates from the fifteenth or sixteenth century and was sculpted by unknown local craftsmen.