Since 2008, the Younger Foundation Crèche and Bethlehem Tree Collection has marked the holiday season at the Mississippi Museum of Art with an impressive display of authentic 18th century Neapolitan figurines. More than 150 intricate miniatures depict not only the Nativity, the Three Magi and a host of angels, but also Italian towns folk of the 1700s in a bustling scene that captures the holiday spirit and captivates with each closer look.
The Bethlehem Tree, unveiled for the season in early December, remains on display through Dec. 31 in the lobby of the Mississippi Museum of Art. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
This collection started with the purchase of four figures in 1987 in New York City, by Jewell Younger Graeber (1923-2011) of Marks. The collection grew, as figures came her way through auction houses, primarily in England and America. “It took us 10 years to collect enough to have a display,” said her daughter and exhibit curator Gay Graeber Stubbs.
“Mother did this for the children of Mississippi.… Whether they’re two or 92, that’s what she intended,” Stubbs said.
“One of our core values at MMA is wonder — to inspire awe and excitement in visitors of all ages,” said Betsy Bradley, museum director. “You can see the awe and excitement on all faces when viewing the Bethlehem Tree: Younger Foundation Crèche Collection.”
The Younger Foundation was set up by Graeber for caring for the figures, perpetuating their display, “and hopefully lasting another 100 years,” Stubbs said. Last year, the foundation had every figure cleaned, repaired if needed, and had archival boxes made for each of them, by conservator Susie Anders in Baton Rouge. She worked with details ranging from metal lace on dresses and coats to stabilizing old silk cloaks with netting, Stubbs said.
Most of the 150 figurines are more than 300 years old, representing a time when Naples, Italy was one of the cultural centers of Western Europe. Crèches were a big craze and are still revered.
“There was a lot of rivalry about who had the best presepio,” said Stubbs, using the Italian word for nativity scene. “The wealthy people bought in to all that rivalry, and they had their dressmakers make the silk dresses for the figures. They had their jewelers make the jewels. They had their silversmiths make the dishes. There were one or two really good people who did animals,” she adds, and many artists and craftsmen found a more lucrative trade making items for crèches for their aristocrat patrons, than they could as an artist.
Naples artisans’ inspiration came imagining and depicting the birth of Jesus Christ, in their region and their times, and what that would have looked like. “So, you get a lot of the townspeople — the butchers and the shopkeepers and the shepherds, and the Wise Men coming through, because Naples was a very important commercial port. They also had a lot of animals coming through. They had one of the first zoos in Europe, because they were so close to north Africa,” she said.
Other presepio traditions include the depiction of the Holy Family in a temple, amid old Roman or Greek ruins, signifying the triumph of the Christian church over pagan religions. “Also, in presepios, you will find busted Greek pottery, because they had just discovered Herculaneum and Pompei, so there’s this real fevered pitch about the archaeological discovery” of the ancient cities buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. “Everything was tagged into the expression of the Christmas season, the expression of Christ overcoming pagan religion.”
Moveable model figures became popular in the 18th century, with hands and feet carved from wood and face and shoulders rendered in hand-painted terra cotta. The bodies were wire tightly wrapped in hemp, “So you could move them, and make them have an expression,” Stubbs said. “We don’t do that anymore because the frames are very fragile now. They’re 300 years old.” To put things in perspective from a modern-day, American point of view, “These figures were made while we were trying to write a constitution,” she said.
Figures range in size from six inches to 12 1/2 inches tall, with arrangements of larger figures in front and smaller ones toward the back, to simulate perspective. “The challenge is to make the groupings believable, and like they’re having a conversation,” Stubbs said.
“Some of the artists would go down to the docks in Naples, and they would draw what they saw down there, and they would come back and create a figure. So, if you look at these figures, they’re not gorgeous,” she said, noting one woman’s neck goiter. At a time when religious and mythological scenes dominated for artists, “These figures were portraits of real people. … The beauty of the crèche or the presepio is that they depicted daily life.”
Animal figures from the era are often hard to find, expensive when they’re up for auction and broken because children played with them. Boosted the collection’s animal count are leather models that are the right scale, and Stubbs, also an artist, made some, too, including some dogs, cats and chickens. She also extended the supply of small accessories, such as cabbages, bell peppers and other vegetables on vendors’ trays and carts. “You can tell, because the colors are brighter than the antique ones.”
All those small touches and details set the stage for this bountiful, celebratory tableau. “That needs to happen,” she said, “to make it real, to make it look alive.”
