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Crèche, Krippe, Nacimiento, and Presepe–:all foreign words–refer to the manger or crib of Bethlehem, which is the center of any and all nativity sets picturing the birth of Jesus Christ. The sets exhibited here are from 16 countries, showing a variety of local customs and traditions. They tell us that a nativity set is not just a nativity set, but is part of the ways in which Christianity has shaped the culture of people whose faith was captured by the message of Jesus. The nativity sets in this exhibit are also samples of how culture fashions religion, and how it helps the message of the Gospels to be better understood and more gratefully cherished.
Recreating the scene of Christ's birth is one of the most tender and enduring Christmas traditions. It has its origin in the middle ages, but came to bloom as popular culture only in the 17/18th centuries. Originally rooted in three centers (Naples; the Provence, France; and Southern Germany and Austria), nativity sets have spread all over the world, thanks, not least, to missionary efforts. Contemporary culture, with its noted preference for the visual and tactile, seems to have rediscovered this form of popular religious art.
In late summer of 1994, The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute at
the University of Dayton began an earnest effort to collect various contemporary cultural
expressions of the nativity scene. To date, the collection holds more than 900
crèches from many parts of the world, some of them on permanent display at The
Marian Library Gallery. However, collecting and displaying is not an end in itself. The
Marian Library uses its crèches to promote the study of culture and religion, and
has set the following goals:
1. to show how strongly and permanently culture and religion influence and enrich each other
2. to pinpoint some of the psychological and sociological implications of the Christmas tradition
3. to highlight the aesthetic dimension of religious culture
4. to make better known the meaning of the Christmas event
The development of The Marian Library's crèche collection was and is entirely based on the generous contributions of friends and donors, and is spearheaded by its committee of Crèches International. The collection has developed into an ongoing project which finds expression in academic research and courses.
--Johann G. Roten, SM
New Nativities for 2000-2001
Crèches 1-5
Crèches 6-8
This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by (none) was last modified Thursday, 02/07/2002 11:12:03 EST by (none). Please send any comments to Johann.Roten@udayton.edu.
URL for this page is http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/gallery/creches/creche00/creche00.html