Monumental nativity scene
Monumental Crib. Former Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul. The permanent nativity scene dates back to 1882 and was created by the artist Friar Benedetto Papale. The 66 statuettes of shepherds, made in terracotta in Caltagirone, at the workshop of Giuseppe Vaccaro and his sons, are of various sizes (the tallest measure 60 cm.) and in Modican costume, according to the precise indications given by the client, who requested the creation of specific characters. The group of the Holy Family, the Three Kings and the prophet Isaiah were instead made by Giacomo Azzolina, from Caltagirone. Friar Benedetto Papale took care of the detailed construction of the landscape views that realistically reproduce the places of Modica. For this, he used stones, corks, trunks and roots gathered in the Modica countryside and zinc sheets to reconstruct the vegetation (prickly pears, caper plants, carobs, pear trees, palms, aloes) and the caves, mountains and dwellings. Father Papale also wanted to give the nativity scene a character of universality, inserting a building resembling an African hut, close to the palm tree; and again with the towers at the top right he wanted to recall Jerusalem. In the group of the Magi there is a woman on a camel; among the wise men who came from the East, there were probably also women.
On the highest mountain dominates the figure of Isaiah, with his arms raised towards heaven.
The shepherds are caught in their sleep by the Angel announcing the birth of Jesus: some wake up, others are still asleep. On the side that opens into the chapel of San Mauro, other characters can be admired, caught while carrying out daily chores: one makes ricotta cheese, one washes clothes, one tends animals, one fetches water at the well, one carries a basket of fruit on his head, one hunts. And there are also: the beggar, the little dog waiting for his master at the door, ‘u spavintatu da stidda’. In the bridge, the old bridge of the Vignazza district is recognisable. In past years, the crib was covered during the year and only uncovered during the Christmas holidays.
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