Florence: Nativity in terracotta on the esplanade in front of the Cathedral

During the Christmas period the churchyard of the Cathedral of Florence from 2011, by the will of the Cardinal Archbishop Giuseppe Betori, as opposed to the tree Christmas that rages for years alongside the cathedral, is set up a nativity scene with artistic terracotta statues Impruneta, life-size, handmade by an artist of Impruneta, Luigi Mariani, and fired in the furnace of family.

The Nativity was blessed yesterday, Cardinal Betori, the presence of the Archbishop Emeritus, Cardinal Silvano Piovanelli, before the celebration of Solemn Pontifical for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

The Nativity will remain the cathedral square until Epiphany, when on the occasion of the Magi, reenactment, the terracotta figures will be replaced by people and animals living that will make installation even more impressive.

The terracotta statues are unique pieces made by hand, four years ago, all-round, by the craftsman Luigi Mariani, 60 years, hanbno that required three months' work, and cooked for 60 hours at a thousand degrees in the historic kiln Impruneta Angiolo Mariani and sons, neither M.i.t.a.l., active for over 100 years, that has donated the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore.

Such sculptures are part of the Florentine tradition of pottery that, in the arts, was born in Florence in the early fifteenth century with the recovery of this ancient technique by Donatello and Brunelleschi.

Michael Lattanzi

By the number 43 – The Year of 10/12/2014