Neapolitan Presepio at Carnegie Museum of Art through Jan. 8
The Neapolitan Presepio, a mainstay of holiday celebrations at the Carnegie Museum of Art since 1957, will be there through Sunday, Jan. 8.
A centuries-old tradition in Naples and Southern Italy, the Presepio is an elaborate Nativity scene recreated with miniature figures arranged in a detailed panorama of 18th-century life in Naples. Handmade by artists in the Royal Court of Naples between 1700 and 1830, the Presepio includes humans, animals, angelic figures and architectural elements.
This year, the Presepio has been placed in the museum’s Scaife galleries. It will be exhibited in proximity to paintings and sculptures in the collection, contextualizing the work. Sharing a gallery with such masterpieces as “The Nativity” and “The King and the Shepherd,” both by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, visitors will be able to reflect on the Presepio in a new context.
More information is available at cmoa.org.