id:			146986
accession number:	1972.368.16
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.368.16
updated:		2023-03-11 20:50:58.761000

Figure from a Crèche: Standing Man, 1780–1830. Italy, Naples, late 18th-early 19th century. Painted wood and terracotta with various textiles; overall: 27 cm (10 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art 1972.368.16

title:				Figure from a Crèche: Standing Man
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1780–1830
creation date earliest:		1780
creation date latest:		1830
current location:		
creditline:			Gift of the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art
copyright:			

---

culture:	Italy, Naples, late 18th-early 19th century
technique:	painted wood and terracotta with various textiles
department:	European Painting and Sculpture
collection:	Sculpture
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

---

CREATORS

---

measurements: Overall: 27 cm (10 5/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

---

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Group of Crèche Figures:  Adoration of the Magi
	opening date:   2000-12-05T00:00:00
	<i>Group of Crèche Figures:  Adoration of the Magi</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 5, 2000-January 7, 2001).

	title:		Group of Crèche Figures:  Adoration of the Magi (1972.368.2-.22)
	opening date:   2001-11-27T00:00:00
	<i>Group of Crèche Figures:  Adoration of the Magi (1972.368.2-.22)</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 27, 2001-January 6, 2002).

	title:		Group of Crèche Figures:  Adoration of the Magi [1972.368.2-.22]
	opening date:   2002-11-26T00:00:00
	<i>Group of Crèche Figures:  Adoration of the Magi [1972.368.2-.22]</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 26, 2002-January 5, 2003).

	title:		Object in Focus: Group of Crèche Figures: Adoration of the Magi
	opening date:   2003-12-12T00:00:00
	<i>Object in Focus: Group of Crèche Figures: Adoration of the Magi</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 25, 2003-January 4, 2004).

---

LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Cleveland, Ohio:  The Cleveland Museum of Art; 12/5/00-1/7/01.  "Group of Crèche Figures:  Adoration of the Magi."<br><br>The Cleveland Museum of Art (11/26/2002 - 01/05/2003); "Group of Crèche Figures:  Adoration of the Magi [1972.368.2-.22]<br><br><br>The Cleveland Museum of Art (12/12/2003 - 01/04/2004); "Object in Focus: Group Crèche Figures: Adoration of the Magi"

---

PROVENANCE

	[Lipkin Gallery, London]
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


---

fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
The practice of creating scenes of the Nativity for the home dates from the early 1700s in Italy, where people began to set up doll-like figures of about a foot or less in height. The custom was particularly popular in Naples around 1800, where crèche scenes (crèche means cradle, or crib) included many figures, whose heads and hands of painted terracotta, stuffed cloth bodies, and clothing adapted from contemporary local costumes gave them an amazingly realistic character.

Representations of the birth of Jesus can be traced to the first few centuries of Christianity. Both living creatures and sculptural depictions of them were used from early times. By the late middle ages it was customary to create life-size figures of wood or stone, naturalistically painted, to represent the characters who participated in the events of Jesus's early life. These sculptures were then arranged in scenes illustrating one or both of the most important of these events, the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Magi-the three kings from the East who came to pay homage to the Christ child. Used in churches, these large figures were especially popular in Italy, Central Europe, Spain, and Portugal.

This Object in Focus presentation was organized by Henry Hawley, Curator of Renaissance and Later Decorative Arts and Sculpture. 

---

RELATED WORKS

---

CITATIONS

---

IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.368.16/1972.368.16_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.368.16/1972.368.16_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.368.16/1972.368.16_full.tif