Naples has, along the years, hosted clerics such as Cajetan of Thiene, Joseph Calasanzio and Alphonse Maria De Liguori, who were enchanted by the mystery of Christmas.

So too was Fr Edgar Vella whose passion for the Neapolitan crib harks back to the early 1980s when he came across an advert illustrating a picture detail of the famous Cuciniello crib, which he had occasion to visit years later.

In the early 1990s, Fr Vella bought his first crib figures from antique markets in London. These included a Madonna by Lorenzo Mosca, St Joseph by Nicola Somma and a rustic figure by Genzano. By time, other acquisitions followed and, through meticulous observation, analysis and research, other important names of crib sculptures from the Settecento came forth: Francesco Viva, Giuseppe De Luca, Giuseppe Gori, Francesco and Camillo Celebrano, Salvatore Franco, Nicola and Aniello Ingaldi and Francesco Cappiello.

Many crib figures can be attributed to the various workshops that emerged in 18th century Naples, including some considered to be of extreme importance, such as that of Giuseppe Sanmartino, the caposcuola of Neapolitan sculpture.

Fr Vella’s collection continued to grow throughout the years and has reached a substantial number of figures. This fact gave rise to the need of exhibiting the collection to the public and to communicate the joy of owning such works of art.

It was in 2004 that he first exhibited a Neapolitan crib and has not looked back since, with the crib growing continuously.

This year, he went a step further. The Evoloution Of The Italian Crib: A Threshold To The Bourbon Crib is a book about Fr Vella’s Neapolitan crib, which knows its success mainly to three factors: light, form and colour.

The hard-bound, 144-page book includes photography by Joe P. Borg and was published by Midsea Books. The book sets out the context in which Neapolitan cribs came to be and serves as a useful tool for the collector.