Nativity scenes – or depictions of the Holy Family, angels and shepherds adoring the newborn Jesus –  are common in Christian iconography, particularly during the Christmas season. Italian churches often commemorate the holiday with elaborate nativity scenes, or presepe, populated with dozens of figures from everyday life. In Naples, the tradition has extended to include celebrities and world leaders in addition to villagers and shopkeepers. One local craftsman even makes his presepe out of pizza dough. The world’s first nativity scene is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi. He staged his production, in 1223, in a cave near Greccio, Italy. Saint Francis is said to have been inspired during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where he visited Jesus’s traditional birthplace. Once back in Italy, he sought to direct the celebration of Christmas away from gift giving back to the worship of Christ. His presepe used live actors and farm animals to recreate the now famous biblical scene. The world’s first live nativity scene was an instant success, receiving the blessing of Pope Honorius III.

Elaborate Presepe, courtesy of Evelyn Dungca

Thereafter, nativity scenes became widely popular, becoming a staple in every Italian church within a hundred years. As statues began to replace live actors, nativity scenes attracted notable collectors such as Charles III, King of the Two Sicilies, who helped spread their popularity internationally. Many nations have since adopted their own unique style of nativity, including hand-painted santons in Provence, France; hand-cut wooden figures in Austria and Germany; intricate szopka in Poland; and inclusion of a Caganer (a defecating figure) in nativity scenes in Catalonia, Spain. A tradition emerged in England to eat a mince pie in the shape of a manger during Christmas dinner, a practice which was eventually outlawed by Puritans in the 17^th century, calling them “Idolaterie in crust.” Despite this temporary prohibition, nativities are now found throughout the world, in locations ranging from religious institutions to shopping malls, and whose inclusion on public land has even sparked legal controversy in the U.S. Some reoccurring nativity scenes, such as the Vatican’s annual production in St. Peter’s Square and the Metropolitan’s baroque nativity scene in its Medieval Art section, have become famous in their own right. In contrast to these large-scale pieces of pageantry, painted depictions of the nativity are usually placed in an intimate setting and invite the viewer to engage in contemplation.

In honor of the Christmas holiday, we also examine the magnificent painting Nativity with Saints Lawrence and Francis by Italian Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The work was painted in 1609 in Palermo, Sicily, where Caravaggio relocated after fleeing from Rome after murdering a man, committed after a fight over a tennis match. Caravaggio was recognized for his volatile personality and his dramatic paintings in the chiaroscuro style. His life has been described as “a negroni cocktail of high art and street crime.” Despite his moral failings, Caravaggio’s stunning Nativity held pride of place over the altar in Palermo’s Oratory of San Lorenzo for 360 years, until unidentified criminals stole the painting in 1969. During an autumn storm, thieves carefully removed the painting by cutting the canvas from the wall. They fled and escaped with their prize rolled up in a carpet. Given that the painting measures three by two meters, and the skillful nature of its removal, many experts believe the most likely culprits are members of the organized crime group Cosa Nostra, also known as the Sicilian mafia. There is tragic symmetry that a work first conceived following a terrible crime has since been lost to the criminal underworld.

Caravaggio, Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence

Cosa Nostra is no stranger to the world of art crime. In 2016, two stolen Van Gogh paintings were recovered at the Italian home of a drug smuggler with ties to the mafia. The paintings are worth an estimated $56 million (50 million euro) each and had been missing for 14 years, since their theft from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. This precedent, along with testimony from witnesses inside the criminal organization, has led Italian law enforcement to believe that Caravaggio’s missing Nativity is potentially in Cosa Nostra’s hands. However, the self-serving nature of testimony from witnesses who wish to escape criminal charges is not always reliable. Furthermore, there have been conflicting accounts of the Nativity’s fate. Some have said that the work is still whole; others, that it was cut into pieces to facilitate its sale; and finally, that the painting had been stashed in a barn where it was consumed by rats and hogs, and ultimately burned.

Currently, it is impossible to say where the Nativity is, or in what state of disrepair. The theft is considered one of the most significant art crimes in history, and the Carabinieri, Interpol, and the FBI have all collaborated in the investigation. New information has come to light within the past two years indicating that the painting may be “still alive” and in circulation in Europe. The painting could be in criminal hands, serving as collateral for drug deals and kept as a bargaining chip for future negotiations with law enforcement. Prosecutors continue to follow the trail of breadcrumbs and hope that they will meet with success. Importantly, although the Nativity’s value has been estimated at $20 million, its black market resale price would be much less – possibly a tenth of the total value.

There is a bittersweet coda to this saga, as a life-size reproduction of the Nativity was commissioned in 2015. The replica, created by Factum Arte, is the result of painstaking research melded with technology. The company used a slide of the painting and black-and-white photographs to study the composition and surface of the work, including brush marks. To recreate the colors used by Caravaggio, technicians based their reproduction on the artist’s paintings in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, which date from approximately the same period. While a facsimile is no substitute for the real thing, it gives viewers a chance to appreciate the Nativity’s “lost beauty” and learn about how technology can be used to create detailed reproductions of works that have been lost or damaged. The replica currently occupies the Nativity’s original location as a placeholder until the painting can be found. Hopefully, authorities will be able to recover this masterpiece and return it to its rightful place.

Amineddoleh & Associates wishes you all a safe and joyful holiday season.