Lucanian nativity art, which saw its moment of maximum visibility in the donation of Maestro Francesco Artese’s artistic nativity scene to the Vatican in 2012, has a long tradition.
Sights of Basilicata emerge in the nativity scene on permanent exhibition in the municipal headquarters of the ‘Carlo Levi’ Literary Park in Aliano, also created by Maestro Artese and exhibited in Loreto in 2011. The work offers sights of the Lucanian landscape: in the background, the Sassi of Matera stand out, enriched with monumental and artistic expressions present throughout the entire territory of Basilicata.
The fourth largest in Europe is the polyscenical nativity scene displayed in the rectory house in Anzi, created by the contemporary artist Vitulli using plaster and recycled materials.
Palace Materi, in Grassano, is home to another of the masterpieces by Francesco Artese, a world-famous crib artist who was born in Grassano. In forty square metres, the Lucanian artist offers a cross-section of real life in his homeland, reflecting places and reality as it was in the 1950s.
Set up in the complex of the ancient Convent of the Carmelite Sisters of St. Clare, the Tricarico nativity scene is the result of a meticulous study of the most representative districts of the Arab-Norman city.
Scenes of rural life framing the mystery arouse intense emotions in the observer, due to the faithfulness to the places and details of the landscape depicted.
In Tursi, in the heart of the Rabatana district, and in the chapel dedicated to St Nicholas specially built at the back of the left aisle of Matera Cathedral, one can admire two of the 16th-century Stone Nativity Scenes made by Altobello Persio from Montescaglioso.
In the nativity scene in Matera, the affinities with some nativities made by Putignano in Apulia are clearly visible. Persio was certainly inspired by the latter both in terms of the material used (the hard stone of Putignano) and the treatment of the characters.