STOLEN ROYAL CRIB FIGURE RETURNED
Just in time for the 2023 Christmas festivities, Italy's crack heritage police force (Carabinieri del Nucleo Tutela Patrimonio Culturale – Naples branch) have recovered the missing figurine of a beggar, stolen during the 1980s from the royal Presepio (Nativity Crib) at the Palace of Caserta (Naples). The perfectly modelled figure was part of the celebrated artistic Christmas Crib set up inside the palace by the Bourbon monarchs in the 18th century.
The monumental Presepio contains over a thousand terracotta figures, all modelled by hand. Leading artists of the period, such as sculptors Matteo Bottiglieri and Giuseppe Sanmartino (author of the celebrated “Veiled Christ”), contributed to the creation of the court Crib while many figurines were clothed by the royal princesses and their ladies, who sewed the garments of the leading characters with silk spun at the royal silk factory in nearby San Leuca and adorned them with coral and gem stones. The more humble characters, which represent the ordinary people of Naples of the period, such as fishermen, washerwomen, stallholders, innkeepers, shepherds, cobblers, card players and so on are set up to recreate an image of bustling 18th century daily life, grouped around the grotto of the Holy Family, set under a rugged cliff of cork.
The Presepio tradition has a long, fascinating and honoured history in Naples. The Neapolitan Nativity scene follows strict rules, with a number of essential characters with double meanings, such as the Sleeping Shepherd boy, Benino, who symbolizes re-awakening, the bridge over running water that represents the passage between life and death, Ciccio Bacco, the wine seller, is the personification of the old pagan god, Bacchus, the Gypsy woman with child is the embodiment of maternity and the Three Wise Men are also Night, Mid-day and Dawn.
Info: Tel. +39.0823.448084 www.reggiadicaserta.cultura.gov.it
