The Nativity

Abstract

On June 30, 1478, sculptors Giovanni and Pietro Alemmano received a commission to create a life-size Nativity scene for the Church of San Giovanni a Carbonara in Naples. Intended for the private chapel of Jacovello Pepe, the Duke of Calabria’s spice merchant, the group originally consisted of forty-one figures and was to be completed by the following Christmas. In 1484, the sculptures were painted by the artist Francesco Fedele. Life-size Nativity scenes such as this one were highly popular in fifteenth-century Naples, often displayed against elaborately painted backdrops that enhanced their theatrical and devotional impact. Today, only fourteen of the original figures survive and are preserved in the Museo di San Martino in Naples. At the center of the composition, Mary and Joseph kneel in adoration of the newborn Christ, whose figure has been lost. Behind them stand the traditional ox and donkey. Angels flank the holy family and hover above. Among the surviving figures are two sibyls (pagan prophetesses believed in Christian tradition to have foretold Christ’s coming) and two prophets, with a sibyl placed on either side of the scene to frame the composition. One of the figures holds a scroll stating “Gremium Virginis erit salus gentium,” which translates to “The Virgin’s womb will be the salvation of the nations.” Letizia Gaeta proposes that the figures created by the Alemmano family may have been influenced by Flemish and Franco-Burgundian visual culture. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.