The simple story of Arnolfo's nativity

Описание: The characters in Arnolfo di Cambio’s nativity scene in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, have the moving beauty of simplicity. The streamlined medieval figures sculpted by the Tuscan architect (ca. 1240 – ca. 1310) for Pope Nicholas IV – the first Franciscan pontiff in history – show a subdued attitude that is almost touching. They silently witness the miracle of God coming into the world as a child, and quietly tell this story to anyone looking.

In 1291 pope Niccolò IV commissioned to the sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio the first inanimate nativity scene of the history in order to give prominence to the relic of the manger and to celebrate the Greccio Nativity scene.
The term nativity scene derives in fact from the Latin praesaepe or manger.
Greccio was the city, in province of Rieti, where in the Christmas night of 1223, Saint Francis had recalled the birth of Jesus with a living representation giving origin to the Nativity scene tradition.

The eight statues in Arnolfo’s Nativity – the Madonna with Child at the center, Saint Joseph leaning on his walking stick, the heads of the oxen and the donkey, and the three Wise Men, one of them kneeling – are now showcased in the Basilica’s Museum.

And after over seven centuries, they continue to quietly tell the simple and wonderful story of God becoming man.

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