Nativity
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Authors
Paolo Catalano da Cassano
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Creche
Alternative Title
Abstract
Paolo Catalano da Cassano's Nativity scene at Santa Maria degli Angeli in Cassano Murge depicts Christ's birth as both a busy event happening in a richly inhabited wider world and an intimate scene in which Mary and Joseph are joined the ox, the ass in a small rough grotto. Around and above the grotto, and indeed wrapping around the viewer on both sides of the chapel are more rough rock formations inhabited by the magi, shepherds, and other people, some of whom wear sixteenth century dress, as well as a variety of animals -- everything from local dogs (some rather violent) to an exotic camel in the train of the magi. The landscape is made of what look to be local rocks taken from the caves that populate the region -- porous, rough stones punctuated by what seems to be the occasional stalactite. As the region is rich with caves, which were sometimes used for churches or even habitations, the artificial cave here sets the Nativity in a local, recognizable landscape, while also emphasizing the rustic humility and antiquity of the scene. The cave is particularly significant at this site, as in the 13th C, after a local priest had three visions, a cave was discovered here with what believers deem a miraculous painting of the Madonna and Child with angels, and so this became a pilgrimage site. The church that was built over the cave in the 15th C houses this creche scene. The cave, which is locally believed to have been used by early Christians persecuted by the Romans, also contains prehistoric bones of elephants, rhinoceri, and other species no longer endemic to the region, a link to the deepest antiquity. The extensive creche scene is remarkably well-preserved, and the original polychromy is still visible on the statues. Angels at the cave entrance mark the threshold between the exterior scene of the magi's procession over the cave, and the miracle scene within. The scales vary, creating a kind of forced perspective, but also the magi and angels' small size, in comparison to the main statues, gives the impression that although they are aware of the scene within the cave, they are not directly participating in it. Previously attributed to Stefano da Putignano, this creche has since been recognized as one of the foremost works of Paolo Catalano da Cassano, along with his Nativity at the Pinacoteca Provinciale in Bari. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Description
Santa Maria degli Angeli, Cassano Murge
Citation
Scultura del rinascimento in Puglia, ed. Clara Gelao (Bari: Edipuglia, 2004), p. 33; Paolo Catalano da Cassano e il presepe di pietra della Pinacoteca provinciale di Bari, ed. Clara Gelao and Bari Pinacoteca provinciale. (Cinisello Balsamo Milano: Silvana (2006), 13.