Melanie Vella discovers how Maltese and Sicilian culture and artistry come together at the newly opened nativity museum in one of Valletta’s main churches.
An exhibition of paintings, sculptures and cribs is being held at the Nativity Museum at St Augustine’s church in Valletta.
More than simply a crib construction, what the museum offers is an artistic experience. It brings together painters and artists from 10th to the 17th century to tell the story of the Nativity and retrace the birth of Jesus. Sicilian artistry is prominent throughout the exhibition.
Vincenzo Velardita and Gigi Genovese create individual scenes depicting the story of the Nativity leading up to the birth of Jesus.“The art of crib-making is deeply etched in both Sicilian and Maltese Christmas traditions. The artistic heritage spans across borders into homes in Italy and Malta,” says the artistic director of the Nativity Museum, Francesca Cannavò, who hails from Sicily. Crib-making skills have been handed down from father to son and grandparent to grandchild for generations in both Italy and Malta.
“With the Nativity Museum, we take visitors back in time to relive this tale of the gift of love, which is so important at a time when conflicts are rife. This message has profound meaning,” says Andrea Consalvo Rifici the manager at the museum.
The fusion of Italian and Maltese cultures is exemplified in the display of several award-winning Maltese cribs, displayed by members of the Malta Friends of the Crib society.
“St Augustine’s Church crypt, which houses the exhibition, transports the visitor back into a world of simpler times. The ancient stone walls provide the perfect backdrop for the diverse paintings, statues and reproductions on display,” says Cannavò.
Follow the labyrinth of underground rooms and pathways that have been transformed into a nativity journey. Visitors are welcomed by two fine art and popular art depictions of the same scenes created by artists Vincenzo Velardita and Gigi Genovese, from Caltagirone, Sicily, home of the Christmas crib tradition.
The fusion of Italian and Maltese cultures is exemplified in the display of several award-winning Maltese cribs
“Recreated paintings by different artists, from Giotto to Caravaggio, display the same nativity scene with the traditional key characters, mother Mary, baby Jesus and the animals. However, every artist’s interpretation reflects the different age and culture, the technique and colours, and even the beliefs typical of the time it was created,” explains Cannavò. Light and sound effects enhance the journey. Artists also recreated particular scenes of the craftsman workshops and parts of the crib into life-sized replicas to turn the museum into a living experience of the birth of Jesus.
The Great Animated Crib of Caltagirone, handmade by master craftsman Salvatore Milazzo, is the heart of the exhibition. This award-winning crib has been displayed in various international venues over the past 20 years including the Basilica of Notre Dame in Paris, the Franciscans’ convent in Assisi and at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
There is something strikingly different about the terracotta crib – the landscape, the houses and even the fruit trees seem a little closer to home.
“The artist has moved away from the traditional depiction of the Nativity scene set in Bethlehem, and delicately recreated a whole Sicilian village around the nativity scene and adapted all the details to typical Sicilian rural life in the early 19th century,” says Cannavò. The traditional crib we are accustomed to visit is transformed into an experience we can relate to, rather than a story that happened centuries ago. In fact there are unfamiliar similarities between the buildings in the scenes in Milazzo’s crib and structures in Maltese and Gozitan countryside.
The organisers of the Nativity Museum have plans to maintain the cribs throughout the year and to develop it into an evolving exhibition of art and culture.