The Inquisitor’s Palace in Birgu, also home to the National Museum of Ethnography, has a big collection of these cribs. Some of them were given to Heritage Malta by Austin Galea, a well-known local craftsman who helped start the Għaqda Ħbieb tal-Presepju Malta a group of crib enthusiasts. These cribs have handmade pasturi (figurines) wearing Maltese costumes in natural landscapes or village scenes built from papier-mâché and other materials. Albert and Lina McCarthy collected over 512 miniature cribs from their 25-year travels around the world. They brought back cribs from places like Japan, Bali, Kenya, the US, Italy, Greece, Chile, Peru, Iran, and Sri Lanka. Some of these tiny cribs are as small as an egg and no taller than three centimetres. Can you imagine that?  They were also donated to Heritage Malta.

History

Pope Liberius started building the Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore in Rome around 358 AD. This church was originally called Sancta Maria ad Praesepe. In 1289, Arnolfo di Cambio sculpted a marble version of an earlier wooden manger and crib for this church.

Although nativity plays were performed before, Saint Francis of Assisi made live cribs popular in Greccio, Italy, in 1223. During the Medieval period and the Renaissance, church altars often had life-size wooden or marble statues of the nativity. But in the 17th and 18th centuries, called the Baroque period, the Neapolitan presepio gained popularity in the palaces, convents and houses of Naples. These were small figurines in large models (tableaux) showing the nativity in rustic settings. King Charles III of Naples encouraged this tradition, and it spread to Europe and from Sicily to religious orders in Malta.

The first mention of a presepju in Malta was one set up by the Black Friars in Rabat in 1617. In the early 1700s, Maestro Saverio Laferla was famous for his presepji and statuettes. Another well-known Maltese sculptor, Carlo Darmanin, made figurines for the presepju of the Benedictine nuns of Mdina which dates back to 1826.

Saint George Preca (1880-1962) helped keep the Christmas spirit alive in Malta through his Society of Christian Doctrine. On Christmas Eve in 1921, he organized the first procession with a statue of baby Jesus. He also started the tradition of giving a crib and a statue of baby Jesus to every child who attended the MUSEUM centres.

In the late 1800s, local craftsmen started making pasturi (crib figurines) out of clay, so that everyone could afford them. Maltese cribs followed the Sicilian and Neapolitan styles, using cork and plaster to create pastoral scenes (dioramas) of the countryside. Cheaper cribs were made from rubble and stones found in the countryside. Gagazza, the remains of burned coal shaped like spiky rocks, was also used. As paper became more common, cribs were made from papier-mâché, and in the 1950s, people started using polystyrene. The figurines continued to be made from terracotta, wood, wax, or papier-mâché.

During Christmas, visiting cribs on display in friaries, convents, churches, and homes became a fun activity. For example, in 1908, Rosina Bonello’s beautiful crib in her house in Xagħra was open for the public to see. Gozitan artisans Agostino Camilleri and Tumas Zahra were well-known for their crib-making skills. In 1962, the first live crib was performed in Lija. Today, the largest live crib is in Għajnsielem, Gozo. It recreates the village of Bethlehem with a live baby Jesus, donkeys, other animals, and demonstrations of traditional trades and crafts.

The Craft

The clay figurines are often made from moulds and painted with bright tempera colours. They are dressed in traditional Maltese peasant costumes, including the milsa (cap) on the men’s heads, the culqana (scarf) over the women’s heads and shoulders, the kabozza and the għonella (both types of hoods).

Many of the pasturi show people doing old-fashioned jobs, like working in the fields, a woman weaving, and another selling goods. Some characters, like ir-rieqed (the sleepy one), ix-xabbatur (the climber), and l-ġħaġeb (the astonished one), appear in many cribs. Each of these characters has a special meaning. For example, ‘the sleepy one’ represents those who were indifferent about Jesus’s birth, while ‘the astonished one’ represents faithful and simple people amazed by the Nativity. ‘The climber’ shows those who struggle to understand Jesus’s significance but try hard to figure it out. Other figurines represent God the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Family, angels, the three wise kings, shepherds, innkeepers, villagers, and various animals.

At the Inquisitor’s Palace, there is an exhibition of presepji that brings other Christmas traditions to life. This includes scenes like an altar boy’s sermon during Christmas Eve Mass, artisans making statues and cribs, and a family enjoying Christmas lunch.

There is also a display of different traditional statues of baby Jesus. These statues were usually made of wax for a soft and translucent (see-through) look. They were dressed in embroidered tunics and often had real hair from a toddler’s curls.

Written with reference to:

‘The Maltese ‘Presepju’ – Cultural and Educational Aspects’ by Victor Agius. A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Education in Part Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor in Education (Honours) at the University of Malta, May 2004.

‘The Magic is in the Detail’ by Fiona Vella. Published in Christmas Times magazine issued with The Times of Malta dated 7th December 2019.