Museum of the painted nativity scene

The Museum

The museum was born in 1982 from an idea of Peppe Natella and the artistic work of the Salerno painter Mario Carotenuto, to whom the Diocese of Salerno offered the opportunity to create the nativity scene in the Sala San Lazzaro, adjacent to the Cathedral.

The master called in real characters, the humble people of the neighborhood, the women and children who attended the nearby parish, to serve as models, staging a work that was truly unprecedented in its spiritual representation.

The’opera

The Nativity scene is a kind of still image of a cold starry night in a hypothetical village in the Salerno area. Carotenuto was inspired by Victorian postcards, the painted silhouettes of rural shrines in the Agro Nocerino, and the sacredness and typology of the place.

The result is not only an original work but also an evocative nativity scene, whose depiction is a cross-section of an era and a community.

The Nativity scene consists of 87 characterspainted with acrylic paints and depicted on a 1:1 scale on 13 mm plywood.

The work not only depicts the Neapolitan nativity and nativity scene, but also depicts characters who really existed in Salerno, including Mario Carotenuto and Peppe Natella themselves.

Almost encapsulating the sense of family, the artist also wanted to depict Mrs. Adriana and her daughter Rossella, Natella&#8217s wife and daughter respectively. Over the years, the artist has added new figures to the crib, such as poet Alfonso Gatto and Monsignor Gerardo Pierro.

The artist has also added new figures to the crib.

Still today Mario Carotenuto’s painted nativity scene stands out for its originality and, after many years, remains a representative and identifying place for the Salerno community.

To be discovered

Christmas with the family

On the north wall of the room is depicted a typical Salerno family from several decades ago, intent on celebrating Christmas. On the scene are the various members seated around a table, with a little girl carrying her little letter and a woman coming out of the kitchen with a tray full of hot zeppole. To the side is Maestro Carotenuto himself depicted lighting a cigarette.

To Know

• St. Francis and the crib

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The tradition traces the first nativity scene back to St. Francis of Assisi. After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to visit the sites of Jesus’ birth, the saint had been so impressed by Bethlehem that, upon returning to Italy, he asked Pope Honorius III for permission to leave the convent in Greccio, near Rieti, and stage a nativity play. That was on December 24, 1223.