One of many, and sharing with other sets the many classical features of Christmas, Ortega's prize-winning figures give us only a taste of what the Christmas event may mean to us. Taste is what counts. It makes a difference. It adds a new color, and gives a second identity to what has become all too familiar and fits our mind like a worn and comfortable glove. Tasting, which should lead to developing-a-taste-for, is the beginning of interest and of a possible future commitment. This set attempts to do just that. Figures and setting are of "ordinary" beauty but the many exquisite details show that the artist has made the message of the nativity his own.

This birth story in painted and glazed terra-cotta is like a beginning gospel. It reveals the significance of Jesus in miniature, and helps us to acquire a taste for him and the more adult features of his message.

Vegetal Reign
Mercedes C. Servin
Paraguay

This Paraguayan nativity takes us back to more rudimentary forms of life. It is artfully crafted from banana leaf the figures as well as the imposing roof of their dwelling place. The round, polished and gentle doll faces emerge like little moons from the dried and brittle vestiges of the vegetal reign. No form of life in this world lives independent of the other. Each one of them is a building block for the next, sometimes higher form of existence. Likewise, Incarnation reaches through human expression of being to all other manifestations of nature. The Lord of Redemption is also the Lord of Creation. As for the banana tree from which this set was made, we know that it grows and matures entirely for its fruit. To be harvested, the tree needs to be cut down, but no sooner cut to the quick, rises again to new growth and new fruit. The season of life alternates with the season of death until only life eternal remains.

Angel and Devil
Palsied People
Mexico

Carved from the soft and worm-eaten wood of a cork tree, this set creates the impression of a ragged and rocky terrain. At its center, there is a cave built into the tree trunk which shelters the baby and his parents. The figure of Mary, standing upright and silhouetted as Our Lady of Lourdes, looms from the cave and dwarfs even the humble elephant who is begging to enter. Right and left of the cave are the minuscule streets and city blocks of "little town of Bethlehem". The most fascinating figures are the angel and the devil. The angel sits on one of the promontories surrounding the cave, and reverently watches over the Christ child. With his immense and streaming mane of hair and feathers he looks like one of the eerie and terrifying figures straight out of William Blake's illustrations of the Apocalypse. Behind his back, crouching literally between a rock and a hard place, is the coarse figure of the devil. The earliest and permanent adversary of Christ-Redeemer, he is a popular figure in many nativity scenes. For a time, he is held in check by the angel but for how long? The unknown artisans of this rustic and uncouth but moving creation are experiencing a most personal odyssey between heaven and hell of their own: they are palsied people.

Rough and Tumble
Gochi Brothers
Mexico

The harsh and barren landscape made of yucca and sand seems to suggest a man's nativity. Crafted by three rough and tumble men, three brothers, it takes some effort to overcome the initial impression of dirt and soot, or simply of careless endeavor. The high-fired figures, looking like coal miners at the end of their shift, are more than a product of simple craftsmanship. They are of exceptional artistic quality. The Gochi brothers have an uncanny ability to take clay and make it come alive with the minute details of daily life. There is more. The face and gestures of the figures are awash with the many emotions of the soul. See the triumph etched into the devil's sneering face, and big man Joseph's gauche and awkward gesture as he affectionately points to the child. From the creases of the men's shirts to the earrings of the women, this set tells indeed the rough and tumble life of gauchos or fortune-hunters. But this scene is not without the secret charm of intended or unintended poetic license: a handsome youth playing the lyre of ancient Greece in the Mexican desert; the bearded preacher who for once ceased thumbing his bible and squeezed it under his arm as he approaches the child; and, again the devil, Tequila bottle dangling from his belt, as he openly shows his horned head no longer hiding it behind a bull mask. Meanwhile, the baby rests in his mother's arm as she peacefully lies on the desert sand.

Bulging Eyes
Unknown Artist
Poland

Figures carved in wood ordinarily inspire a sense of well-being and peace. They feel warm and reassuring to the touch; they even have a pleasant odor. There is no reason why it should be different for this set. Although of unknown artist, it owes its existence to a famous woodcarver tradition of the southern region of Poland where the woods are dense and the winters are long. During this period of forced immobility, many a farmer took up carving and became a master of the penknife. A thriving folk art developed. But look at the faces. Isn't there something unsettling there, which may contradict what has been said so far? The faces have bulging eyes, worse, they seem like piercing eyes x- raying the onlooker. All at once these little figures seem to close in on the innocent visitors and threaten them in silent accusation. In fact, these big eyes are a symbol of fixed and undisguised rapture. In the language of popular art, they are bulging in wonderment and eager to pierce the mystery before them.

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