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 he
crib strongly suffered from “the movement of thought that brings
clarity”, and in the entirely new
situation that took
root, even more so as time
passed, it turned it’s attention to nature, and to the representation
of real life , participating in immediate and documentated seasons, to
revalue the realities of
the period that were considered an important
part of a complicated spiritual world, in which the
artist took part himself.
In
fact, it was not by chance , that the director , the head artist of the
crib, was almost always a middle-class painter or architect; in any case
a person who possessed a culture that transpired the essence of the
century. an essence of which , in the neapolitan environment, risulted
well moderated by a strong historical and religious conscience.
The
art of crib making, in it’s complexity, did not conclude it’s
development with the attention it dedicated
to the environment, with the representation of real life, and
with the cronicle of topical interest, it’s contribution to the
enlightenment philosophy; it
also contributed to the movement with the most concrete and impressive
representation of the time: from the products of the earth and the sea ( made of wax and polychromed
terracotta ), to manufactured articles,
jewellery, musical
instruments, weapons, and
to everyday objects ( made to scale , in the original
materials and essences ); all worthy of being among the
curiosities named in the Diderot and D’Alembert encyclopaedia for
their enormous and complete variety of examples, published in 1751.
The
animal world was also represented, by realistic anatomical figures,
that enlarged the theme to particular moments of life and
contained a whole zoological
series of domestic pets complete with every type and variety of species,
enriched also with a vast amount of exotic beasts.
In
the growing interest towards nature,
individual values and human feelings could not be absolutely
omitted. The greatest neapolitan scuptor
of the 17 TH century,
transformed these qualities into practical suggestions for the crib,
therefore leaving clear proof in these particular works of art of the
strains and tensions expressing state of mind and passions. Now if the
crib figures of Giuseppe Sanmartino reflect the enlightment philosophy,
in the same way it was to be found also in the small heads moulded by
Nicola Somma, Francesco Celebrano, Salvatore Franco and Lorenzo Mosca,
whom, differing from the Maestro, dedicated
their attention to the external aspects of man, to the study of
physiognomy.
At
the turn of the century, the enlightenment
characteristic was fading , the inspiration that had maintained
it for so long had died, and the only part left was the
memory; nostalgical, miming the editions of the past. The change
in the political and social conditions had indirectly made the crib take
a different course; it was
at a standstill, continuing with it’s 17 TH century costumes and
environment, unable to keep up with the times, and without
renewing the scenery,
a profound internal necessity was missing and that consequently forced
this type of work of art to cease existing.
The neapolitan crib of the
“gold century”, rich with lay culture and faith, full of religious
symbols and refined pictorial quotes, was often confused with other 
contemporary representations of the 18th century,
changed it’s inclination and started working
in a new direction, towards the deviation that already existed
and that priviliged the working class aspects, and to the parody. The
unusual rise in popularity of the “tavern scene” (representation
that dominated over others, a fascinating and luring environment,
certainly an unusual choice for the crib) and the growing popularity of
figurines depicting each single one working at his
own job and selling,
selling everything, everything under the sun, subtracted attention and
thus left it only a limited space. This tendency became the most
popular, thus breaking
it’s precedent procedure, uniqueness, compactness,
the conception of a great crib set, and it resulted even more
popular with the majority, reflecting the
pleasure found in the episode, in reference to uses and
traditions; underlining the fact that no careful planning or special
attention preceded the work that would have overcome
the eventual difficulties,
an enormous amount of scenery, crib figures, and accessories
placed together;
leaving aside everything that
had been before, disregarding the core of the subject, the only basis
for the representations: “The Mistery”, that objectively speaking,
had become only an excuse for so much ostentation.
Were
these french jacobean ideas ? the retaliation of the bourbonic reign ?
Or was it the beginning of a new generation of crib makers who possessed
limited knowledge and very little faith ? The fact remains though that
cribs were never constructed again, and even if they were by chance made,
they had lost that special characteristic, that stimulus, that had made
them protagonists of the 17th century in Naples.
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