Artists:
Agustín Cruz Tinoco
Josefina Aguilar
Luis Valencia
Manuel Jiménez
Francisco Sosa Gutiérrez
Octaviano Santiago
Angélica Vázquez Cruz


Judith Davis is Vice President of Friends of the Creche, a society dedicated to the Christmas Nativity.

During the construction of their website you may reach the Friends at the above web address. Or, for more information, email Judy:
An imposing King rides an elephant and carries the star in a nacimiento (nativity) by Luis Valencia of San Antonino Castillo Velasco, Ocotlán, Oaxaca (above left). Bright aniline colors cover the nacimiento figures of Oaxacan woodcarver Octaviano Santiago.
By Judith Davis

Nacimiento – Presepio - Crèche – Krippe – Pesebre – Belén - it doesn’t matter what language you speak – these words all describe that most wonderful of phenomena – the popular representation of the Nativity, the birth of Jesus Christ. Scenes of the Nativity are known from the very earliest times in the Christian era. They appear in 3rd and 4th century Christian catacombs of Rome as wall paintings and on sarcophagi. They were used on 7th century decorative items carved in ivory and glass. Nativity dramas took place in the early churches. However, it was not until St. Francis organized a Nativity using live animals in Greccio, Italy, in 1223, that the understanding and appreciation of that special scene took root and grew, developing eventually into what we know today. The early Nativity sets were simple but grew more complex as the great families of Naples competed with each other to stage the best and most elaborate scene. An outstanding example was the 5200-piece 18th Century presepio of Spanish Prince Charles of Bourbon, King of Naples. The 1200 figures remaining today can be seen at La Reggia Palace Complex in Caserta, outside of Naples. Before long the custom of making Nativities spread from Italy to France and to Spain, and then to other parts of the world, following the spread of Christianity through exploration and colonization.

And so it was that the nacimiento arrived in the New World with the conquistadores and frailes in the 16th century. The book, Nacimientos Mexicanos, published by the Fundación Cultural Serfin in 1994, gives a detailed history of the development of Christmas celebrations and of the Nativity in Mexico.

Fray Bartolomé de Olmedo was the first friar to set foot in the New World, arriving with Hernán de Cortés in Veracruz on Good Friday, April 22, 1519. He was followed by other Franciscans, then, Dominicans and Augustinians, and, much later, by the Jesuits. They all were concerned with the problem of how best to present to the Indians the stories of the Bible, especially those about Jesus Christ. They used paintings, sculptures, songs, dances, pastorelas or Nativity plays, and carved wooden figures in this endeavor. According to the Franciscan Codex, Fray Pedro de Gante, who arrived in 1523, celebrated the first Christmas in Nueva España. He founded a school in Texcoco where he instructed the Indians not only in the singing of hymns, but also in the making of figures and backgrounds for Nativity scenes to be carried in holy day processions. Toward the middle of the 16th century Fray Juan de Torquemada wrote that on Christmas night the Indians put in place a pesebre…which represented Bethlehem with the Baby Jesus, Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and the shepherds. In 1594 Fray Agustín de Vetancurt founded La Encarnación Monastery. Every year the nuns arranged elaborate Nativities in their cells. The making of Nativity figures continued. Initially called “misterios”, referring to the central mystery of the Incarnation, these scenes were to develop into today’s nacimientos.

There is probably no significant crafts area in all of Mexico that does not produce Nativities, and there is no single artisan who produces only Nativities. The sets are done in all media. Artists who do ceramics, wood carving, glass blowing, lacquer work, amate paintings, papel picado, or any other form of folk art, produce Nativities in addition to their other creations. Those people who have been able to visit the “Hecho en México – Mexican Folk Art” exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Man last year or earlier this year were able to view many Nativities from around Mexico, made in a variety of media and styles. The same can be said about the Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art exhibit which opened last year at the Heye Smithsonian Museum in New York City and which is now touring the United States.

Perhaps the outstanding quality of Mexican nacimientos is their individuality. Each artist or artisan interprets the birth of Christ in his/her own personal, spiritual, and cultural way. They all place Christ at the center of life as they know it – a means to show people the presence of God in their midst. I have seen Nativities peopled by Aztec Indians - Huichol Indians - Subcomandante Marcos and Chiapan peasants - inhabitants of Tequila, Guadalajara, surrounded by maguey plants and with a devil figure holding a pitchfork and a tequila bottle - and even some made of radishes for La Noche de Rábanos in Oaxaca!

The basic Nativity scene shows the Holy Family, Mary, Joseph, the Babe, usually in a stable setting. Often there are an angel, an ox and an ass, shepherds and sheep. The three Wise Men/Magi/Kings enter, sometimes riding on a camel, an elephant, and a horse, and sometimes followed by their retinues. They may bring representations of the traditional gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, or their gifts may be items important in the local economy of the artist. Even though the shepherds visited the stable on the night of Jesus’ birth and the Wise Men not until much later, both groups may be shown arriving at the same time. Often a devil is included in the scene - where there is good there is evil also - or maybe diablitos, strange, little dog-like creatures. The Holy Family and the three Wise Men are often dressed in “Biblical garb”, or they may be portrayed in local dress, as peasants, with familiar landmarks, such as the volcanoes Popocatépetl or Ixtaccíhuatl, in the background. Or they may be portrayed in a setting completely removed from the traditional.

Outlined below and illustrated with photographs are nacimientos by eight Oaxaca-area folk artists, five of whom work in wood and three, in clay. Accompany me, please, as we look at their individual and personal interpretations of the Nativity event.
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