A theatrical and sung journey in eighteenth-century dress to discover the fantastic world of the Neapolitan Nativity scene.
Saturday 30th December from 18:30pm to 19:30pm in the neo-Gothic church of Santa Maria Stella Maris and San Biagio ai Caciolii, located in Piazzetta del Grande Archivio in Naples, which the Association I Sedili di Napoli ETS has received on loan for use and which will begin reconstruction work in 2024, the Association “Passi & Note” with Luisa Tranchino and the soprano Simona Tagliaferri, will welcome visitors to the Great Nativity Scene of the Art of Pizza Makers, created by the nativity scene craftsman Salvatore Iasevoli, thanks to the consolidated partnership between the APN – Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani, chaired by Sergio Miccù and the Association I Sedili di Napoli ETS, which will remain on display, with free admission until next February 2, the day of Candlemas, on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the UNESCO recognition of the Art of Neapolitan Pizza Makers, as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
The evening is dedicated to a guided tour, dramatized and sung in historical eighteenth-century dress, to better understand the characters that populate the traditional Neapolitan nativity scene, from Benino to Stefania; from the Acquafrescaia to the Ubriaco; from the Mendicant Monk and the Souls Pezzentelle, to the Innkeeper and the Customers of the Trattoria, in a succession of scenes and images that, in the end, all refer back to the Myth of the Eternal Return and the Light of the Hope of Salvation that the Nativity Scene contains but that few, today, are able to read and understand.
During the guided tour, free for all visitors, the meanings of the circular shape of the Nativity Scene will be explained, a clear allusion to the Art of Pizza Makers and to the ascending spiral that, from the base circle, rises up through steps and waterfalls, between two mills, up to the “fortress” of the castle.
A glittering and fantastic world that the nativity scene artisans of the 18th century, faithful to the teachings that San Gaetano Thiene had already introduced in the mid-16th century, wanted to preserve and pass on with a sacred artistic expression but which then, spreading throughout the world, has almost completely lost its deepest cultural and devotional roots.
The guided tour, in joy and grace, will therefore be an opportunity to reconnect with Tradition and with Neapolitan Identity to discover behind which face the Devil lurks in the Nativity Scene; because Benino, the sleeping shepherd is not only the dreamer of the Nativity Scene itself but also the representation of the Solar Year Cycle, just as the Three Wise Men in their colors White, Red and Black are nothing other than the representation of the phases of the Sun that bows to the new Baby Sun.
Furthermore, we will know why, behind the Nativity, the Ox must always be a little higher than the Donkey and what the Three Angels of Glory mean, along with much else that will surely surprise even those who love the Nativity Scene and who position the shepherds of the professions in a certain way "because that's how it's always been done" but who ignore the true reasons.
The exhibition of the Great Nativity Scene of the Art of Neapolitan Pizza Makers is non-profit and admission to the Stella Maris church is free, as is participation in the dramatized and sung guided tour which does not require a reservation.
For info: FB Page I Sedili di Napoli guardians of our History
www.isedilidinapoli.eu
Article published on 29 December 2023 - 12:14
