Christmas Crib 2022 in the Vatican

The nativity scene represents the nativity scene in life-size, it is made up of 18 statues in cedar wood arranged on a structure with a semi-dome made of larch wood in our production plants, watch the video:

The inauguration took place on Saturday 3 December 2022 in the presence of a delegation from Friuli Venezia Giulia, led by the governor Massimiliano Fedriga who, during the presentation press conference in Trieste, spoke as follows:

“The Sutrio nativity scene is a very important showcase for the our region, makes the artistic excellence of Friuli Venezia Giulia available to the global community and does so by looking at environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the choice to use the roots of the trees broken by the Vaia storm to create the cradle where the depiction of baby Jesus will be placed establishes an important spiritual connection between the nativity and our region. This choice contains a message of rebirth which, in addition to embellishing the quality of the work, transmits the founding values ​​of Friuli Venezia Giulia”.

Eleven wood sculptors, artists who come from all over the Friuli Venezia Giulia area, have dedicated themselves to carving the Nativity scene: they are the artists Stefano Comelli, artistic director of the project , Arianna Gasperina, Corrado Clerici, Hermann Plozzer, Father Gianni Bordin, Andrea Caisutti, Paolo Figar, Isaia Moro, Martha Muser, Renato Puntel and the Ukrainian artist Oleksander Shteyninher , in Italy since 1999. Find out more about the artists…

The exhibition was conceived with great attention to the values ​​of sustainability; no trees were cut down to provide raw material and even the cradle that will house the child is made from the intertwining of the roots of trees felled by the Vaia storm. Furthermore, each character in the work shines thanks to the light design project donated to the Municipality of Sutrio by the Croatian company Skirà.

With careful attention to tradition, the Holy Family is represented with baby Jesus in an attitude of loving serenity and will have the classic features of the newborn baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. The Madonna will be depicted on her knees, to the left of the Child Jesus, Saint Joseph, standing to the right of the child, will hold the small lantern, symbol of light and hope, which illuminates Jesus. The ox and the donkey, with realistic features, will be lying next to Mary and Joseph. Above the nativity, on the dome of the cave at a height of approximately 7 metres, the angel will be a guardian of light for everyone. There is no shortage of traditional and local characters: the carpenter, first and foremost, an immediate reference to the many craftsmen who, in the Carnic Alps, have made woodworking their vocation. And then the weaver, who recalls the female work of many women in Carnia, Cramar, who, carrying a wooden chest of drawers on her shoulders, went from village to village to sell the handicraft products of his community. And there will be the shepherdess, the family with three figures, a woman, a man, a child, united in an embrace.

During the inauguration, two songs by the Polyphonic Choir of Ruda (UD) accompanied the lights-on ceremony and, shortly before the intervention of the authorities, the accordionist Andrea Nassivera performed a song live. For the entire period of display of the Nativity scene, a soundtrack will be broadcast with Christmas and traditional songs, some of which created by the Ruda Choir and other artists from Friuli Venezia Giulia. The project was supported by the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and PromoTurismoFVG, in agreement with the Archdiocese of Udine.
The Friulian nativity scene will remain open to all the faithful in St. Peter’s Square in Rome until Epiphany 2023.