The Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche at The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, a long-established yuletide tradition in New York, will be on view for the
holiday season from November 24, 2009, through January 6, 2010. The brightly lit,
20-foot blue spruce – with a collection of 18th-century Neapolitan angels and
cherubs among its boughs and groups of realistic crèche figures flanking the
Nativity scene at its base – will once again delight holiday visitors in the Museum’s
Medieval Sculpture Hall. Set in front of the 18th-century Spanish choir screen
from the Cathedral of Valladolid, with recorded Christmas music in the
background and daily lighting ceremonies, the installation reflects the spirit of the
holiday season.
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This exhibit of the crèche is made possible by gifts to The Christmas Tree Fund and the Loretta Hines Howard Fund.
The annual Christmas display is the result of the generosity, enthusiasm, and
dedication of the late Loretta Hines Howard, who began collecting crèche figures in 1925 and soon after conceived the idea of combining the Roman Catholic custom of elaborate Nativity scenes with the tradition of decorated Christmas trees that had
developed among the largely Protestant people of northern Europe. This unusual
combination was first presented to the public in 1957, when the Metropolitan
Museum initially exhibited Mrs. Howard’s collection. More than two hundred
18th-century Neapolitan crèche figures were given to the Museum by Loretta Hines
Howard starting in 1964, and they have been displayed each holiday season for
more than 40 years. Linn Howard, Mrs. Howard’s daughter, worked with her
mother for many years on the annual installation. Since her mother’s death in 1982,
she has continued to create new settings for the figures that she adds to the
collection. In keeping with family tradition, Linn Howard’s daughter, Andrea Selby
Rossi, now joins her mother in creating the display.
The towering tree, glowing with light, is adorned with cherubs and some 50
gracefully suspended angels. The landscape at the base displays the figures and
scenery of the Neapolitan Christmas crib. This display mingles the three basic
elements traditional in 18th-century Naples: the Nativity, with adoring shepherds
and their flocks; the procession of the three Magi and their exotically dressed
retinue of Asians and Africans; and, most distinctively, a crowd of colorful
townspeople and peasants. The theatrical scene is enhanced by a charming
assortment of animals – sheep, goats, horses, a camel, and an elephant – and by
background pieces serving as the dramatic setting for the Nativity, including the
ruins of a Roman temple, several quaint houses, and a typical Italian fountain with
a lion’s-mask waterspout.
The origin of the popular Christmas custom of restaging the Nativity is
traditionally credited to Saint Francis of Assisi. The employment of man-made
figures to reenact the hallowed events soon developed and reached its height of
complexity and artistic excellence in 18th-century Naples. There, local families vied
to outdo each other in presenting elaborate and theatrical crèche displays, often
assisted by professional stage directors. The finest sculptors of the period –
including Giuseppe Sammartino and his pupils Salvatore di Franco, Giuseppe Gori,
and Angelo Viva – were called on to model the terracotta heads and shoulders of
the extraordinary crèche figures. The Howard collection includes numerous
examples of works attributed to them as well as to other prominent artists.
The Museum’s crèche figures, each a work of art, range from six to 20 inches in
height. They have articulated bodies of tow and wire, heads and shoulders modeled
in terracotta and polychromed to perfection. The luxurious and colorful costumes,
many of which are original, were often sewn by women of the collecting families
and enriched by jewels, embroideries, and elaborate accessories, including gilded
censers, scimitars and daggers, and silver filigree baskets. The placement of the
approximately 50 large angels on the Christmas tree and the composition of the
crèche figures and landscape vary slightly from year to year as new figures are
added.
Beginning December 1, dramatic lighting ceremonies will take place this year on:
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays at 4:30 p.m.; and Fridays and
Saturdays at 4:30, 5:30, and 6:30 p.m. The Museum will be open on a special
holiday Monday this year, December 28, and the lighting ceremony on that date
will follow the weekday schedule.
As part of the Christmas celebration, several concerts – performed by Chanticleer, Inspirational Voices of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, Burning River Brass, Quartetto Gelato, and Lionheart – will take place in front of the tree in the Medieval Sculpture Hall. Concert tickets are $60 each. (Note: all Chanticleer concerts are sold out.) Tickets are available by calling the Department of Concerts and Lectures at 212-570-3949 or online at www.metmuseum.org/tickets. Tickets are also available at the Concerts and Lectures box office located inside the Museum’s main entrance (open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5:00 p.m., and Sunday, noon–5:00 p.m.).
Medieval Decorations to Mark “Christmastide“ at
The Cloisters from December 14 to January 7
The wreaths and garlands that deck The Cloisters museum and gardens for the holiday season are all hand-made from plants linked with the celebration of Christmastide in the Middle Ages. Arrangements of flowers, fruits, nuts, and evergreens will be on display throughout the Museum from December 14 through January 7. From December 22 through January 3, visitors to The Cloisters will pass under a great arch of holly – the plant associated above all others with the medieval feast – to enter the museum. Inside, the doorways of the Main Hall will be adorned with arches of ivy, apples, hazelnuts, and rosehips. Displays of rosemary, cyclamen, citrus, and other potted plants appropriate to the season will be placed in the Saint-Guilhem and Cuxa Cloisters.
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A complete list of programs and activities to be held at both the Metropolitan
Museum’s main building and The Cloisters during the holiday season this year¡ª
family programs, films, concerts, tours, holiday dining, shopping (in the Met’s new Holiday Shop), and more¡ªcan be found on the Metropolitan Museum’s website at www.metmuseum.org.
Note: Admission is free to the main building and The Cloisters for children under
the age of 12 accompanied by adults. The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day,
December 25, and January 1. The extended holiday hours on December 24 and 31
in the main building do not apply to The Cloisters.
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November 23, 2009
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