"Creches III: The Nativity" Comes to Komechak Art Gallery

The Komechak Art Gallery is featuring its third annual holiday exhibition of "Creches III: The Nativity",from November 21 through December 23rd. The public is invited to celebrate the opening reception of the exhibition on Sunday, December 4th, from 2-4:00 p.m.

As in past years, the holiday exhibition features a private collection of creches(nativity scenes). This year's collection comes from the Michael Whalen family, of Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Whalen is the past president of the national organization, Friends of the Creche Society. For more information on the group see www.friendsofthecreche.org

The Whalens have been collecting creches for 60 years, and their collection spans the globe. Komechak Art Gallery is displaying 150 sets of creches from Mr. Whalen's impressive collection.

To give a brief history about the history of the creche see below.... A nativity scene or crèche; also known as a manger scene, or crib, is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmas season, of art objects representing the scene of the birth of Jesus. While the term "nativity scene" may be used of any representation, it has a more specialized sense referring to seasonal displays, either using model figures in a setting or enactments called "living nativity scenes" in which real humans and animals participate.

A nativity scene takes its inspiration from the accounts of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Luke's narrative describes an angel announcing the birth of Jesus to shepherds who then visit the humble site where Jesus is found lying in a manger, a trough for cattle feed.(Luke 2:8-20) Matthew's narrative tells of "wise men" who follow a star to the house where Jesus dwelt, and indicates that the Magi found Jesus some time later, less than two years after his birth, rather than on the exact day.(Mat.2:1-23) Matthew's account does not mention the angels and shepherds, while Luke's narrative is silent on the Magi and the star. The Magi and the angels are often displayed in a nativity scene with the Holy Family and the shepherds although there is no scriptural basis for their presence.(Luke 2:7;2:12;2:17)

St. Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene in 1223 at Greccio, central Italy, in an attempt to place the emphasis of Christmas upon the worship of Christ rather than upon gift giving. The nativity scene created by St. Francis is described by St Bonaventure in his Life of Saint Francis of Assisi written around 1260. Staged in a cave near Greccio, St. Francis' nativity scene was a living one with humans and animals cast in the Biblical roles. Pope Honorius III gave his blessing to the exhibit. Such pantomimes became hugely popular and spread throughout Christendom. Within a hundred years every church in Italy was expected to have a nativity scene at Christmastime. Eventually, statues replaced human and animal participants, and static scenes grew to elaborate affairs with richly robed figurines placed in intricate landscape settings. Charles III, King of the Two Sicilies, collected such elaborate scenes, and his enthusiasm encouraged others to do the same.

The scene's popularity inspired much imitation in Catholic countries, and in the Early modern period sculpted cribs were set up in Catholic churches and homes, often exported from Italy. These elaborate scenes reached their artistic apogee in Papal state, Emilia, Kingdom of Naples, Genoa that had an important tradition, notably those of Anton Maria Maragliano. By the end of the 19th century nativity scenes became popular beyond Catholic settings, and many versions of various sizes and in various materials such as terracotta, paper, wood, wax and ivory were marketed, often with a backdrop setting in the stable.

Different traditions of nativity scenes emerged in different countries. Hand-painted santons are popular in Provence. In southern Germany, Austria and Trentino-Alto Adige the figurines are handcut in wood. Colorful szopka are typical in Poland. A tradition in England, involved baking a mince pie in the shape of a manger to hold the Christ child until dinnertime when the pie was eaten. When the Puritans banned Christmas celebrations in the 17th century, they also passed specific legislation to outlaw such pies, calling them "Idolaterie in crust".

Distinctive nativity scenes and traditions have been created around the world and are displayed during the Christmas season in churches, homes, shopping malls, and other venues, and occasionally on public lands and in public buildings. The Vatican has displayed a scene in St. Peter's Square near its Christmas tree since 1982 and the Pope has for many years blessed the mangers of children assembled in St. Peter's Square for a special ceremony. In the United States, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City annually displays a Neapolitan Baroque nativity scene before a 20 ft. blue spruce.

A static nativity scene may be erected indoors or outdoors during the Christmas season, and is composed of figurines depicting the infant Jesus resting in a manger, Mary, and Joseph. Other figures in the scene may include angels, shepherds, and various animals. The figures may be made of any material, and arranged in a stable or grotto. The Magi may also appear, and are sometimes not placed in the scene until the week following Christmas to account for their travel time to Bethlehem. While most home nativity scenes are packed away at Christmas or shortly thereafter, nativity scenes in churches usually remain on display until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

The nativity scene may not accurately reflect gospel events. With no basis in the gospels, for example, the shepherds, the Magi, and the ox and ass may be displayed together at the manger. Some traditions bring other scriptural characters to the nativity scene such as Adam and Eve and the serpent, Noah and his animals, the twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve prophets and the twelve apostles. Mundane activities such as Mary washing diapers in the River Jordan, or a dove descending on the newborn infant may be depicted. The art form can be traced back to eighteenth-century Naples, Italy. Neapolitan nativity scenes do not represent Palestine at the time of Jesus but the life of the Naples of 1700, during the Bourbon period. Families competed with each other to produce the most elegant and elaborate scenes and so, next to the Child Jesus, to the Holy Family and the shepherds, were placed ladies and gentlemen of the nobility, representatives of the bourgeoisie of the time, vendors with their banks and miniatures of cheese, bread, sheep, pigs, ducks or grape, and typical figures of the time like gypsy predicting the future, people playing cards, housewives doing shopping, dogs, cats and chickens.

A donkey and an ox typically appear in nativity scenes. Besides the necessity of animals for a manger, this is an allusion to Isaiah: "the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider "Isaiah 1:3. The Gospels do not mention an ox and donkey. Another source for the tradition may be the extracanonical text, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew of the 7th century. (The translation in this text of Habakkuk 3:2 is not taken from the Septuagint.) Therefore, the animals, the ox and the ass, with him in their midst incessantly adored him. Then was fulfilled that which was said by Habakkuk the prophet, saying, "Between two animals you are made manifest." The ox traditionally represents patience, the nation of Israel, and Old Testament sacrificial worship while the ass represents humility, readiness to serve, and the Gentiles.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Student Political Art Display At Ben U

Art students in Benedictine University's 2D Design, Calligraphy and Graphic Design courses were invited by the Political Science department to produce work based upon the theme of the 2016 presidential election. The response was terrific. Please see below some examples of the work that is currently on display in Goodwin Hall, 1st floor, now through November 12. many thanks to the student who participated, Professor Phil Hardy for the opportunity to bring this idea together, plus thanks to Jennifer Zingg, Teresa Parker, HaiRiHan, Karen Brooks.