Thanksgiving 2002 - Thanksgiving 2003

This year's nativity representations reflect, as always, a great cultural and geographical variety, and, of course, the riches in motif and tradition that come with it.  From Singapore to Iceland, from pâte d'encens to dyed wool, religious imagination seems to dispose of an inexhaustible arsenal of artistic and devotional inventions and tools to live up to the true sense of the Incarnation: God makes himself available to all people of all times.  To highlight and illustrate this truth we have chosen as motto for the 2003 Christmas exhibit the expression, "The Little Saints."  The little Saints are the little people stamped with great love from God.

The French word, Santons comes from the Italian Santini, or little saints.  Santini were hand-painted clay figures of popular saints sold in marketplaces and by traveling merchants all over Italy and in southern France, the Provence in particular.  In the sun-bleached region of the Provence, with such cities as Marseille, Arles, and Avignon, the "little saints" became Santons, but instead of being adorned with haloes and palm branches, they now wear bonnets and trousers, embroidered shawls, and full skirts.  The Santon is both "collective personality" and colorful individual.  Santons are first and foremost members of a community and representatives of a given cultural and sociological identity. In short, they stand for some aspect of the collective make-up of Provençal towns and villages and, by extension, of other regions of France and beyond.  Not enough to be an envoy of his community, each Santon has his/her  own frequently typified personality and story.  He may be, e.g., the stereotype local yokel or village fool--his collective persona--but he is also the Ravi, or Man in rapture.  Naïve and simple-minded, he is the only citizen of the town who raises his arms to heaven in guileless happiness about the birth of Jesus.

The world of Santons has many different characters, from the belle of Arles (Arlésienne) to Marius, the typical Marseilles bon vivant and poacher.  The complete village counts no less than 130 little figures, mayor, pastor, and gypsies included.

Various Studios
French Santons
France

Studio Roi de Bretagne
Santons of Brittany
France

Unknown
King or Queen for a Day
France

  Agnes Boiste
The Stuff of Fairy Tales
France

Marcel Carbonel
Rapture
France

Pascale Delorme
Alsatian Santons
France

Barmettler Family
Swiss Santons
Switzerland

Bernard Boivin
The Santons of Charlevoix
Canada

Yolande
Aristocrats among Santons
France

Amos Tay
Fragile Majesties
Singapore

Itari Akayama
Humble Beauty
Japan

Katherine Muench
The Finishing Touch
USA

Unknown
Worship of the Imperfect
Japan

Mario and Miguel Mendoza
A Matter of the Heart
Argentina

Unknown
A Matter of Survival
Madagascar

Unknown
The Greatest Story
Tanzania

Nova 5 Collectible
Cultural diversity
USA

  Maria degli Angeli
A Symphony of Burlap
Italy

Katrin Barendregt
Dyed in the Wool
Switzerland

Sung June Yim
Bridge Builders
Korea

Gilberte Schneider
Three Santons
Switzerland

Hermine Arbeitshuber
A Victor's Crown
Austria

Kristina Karolina
Yuletide Lads
Iceland

Günter Reichel
The Downward Staircase
Germany

Unknown
New Creation
Poland

Evelyn Martin
Mosaic of Wood
Trotwood, OH

Norman Eckl
Timeless Memory
USA

Gerson International
Carolers' Reward
USA

Julie Good-Kruger
Little Prophets
USA

Esther O'Hara
Amish Christmas
USA