Arts & Entertainment
The Art of the Crèche: Nativity Scenes Shine in Annual Show at Loyola Museum of Art
“Art and Faith of the Crèche,” an exhibit at LUMA, explore various interpretations of nativity scenes. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)
In “Art and Faith of the Crèche,” creed and creativity go together like Christmas and cookies, but you don’t have to be a believer to appreciate the beauty of the nativity sets on display at Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA).
This appealing museum, steps from the Water Tower on Michigan Avenue, has been mostly dormant since 2019 when it ceased public hours for financial reasons and “a change in focus.”
Then LUMA hosted a photography show earlier this year, and now the museum is back with its annual holiday presentation centered on the crèche (which rhymes with “fresh” and comes from the Latin word for “crib”).
Of course, nativity scenes, or crèches, are a group of figures that represent the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable in Bethlehem. There are Wise Men, the Holy Family, camels, donkeys and the odd elephant or zebra.
This exhibition shines light on a glorious grouping of 60 crèches. They come from LUMA’s collection of more than 700 nativity sets.
“We rotate them because we want to display as many as we can,” curator Kyle Mathers told WTTW News. “A lot of our visitors are repeat visitors who make a trip every year, so we want to keep it interesting for them. A crèche will be put on display every four years or so, and there’s a few crowd favorites that we put out every year, such as the Chicago skyline.”
A crèche takes inspiration from the Chicago skyline at LUMA’s “Art and Faith of the Crèche” show. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)
Most are contemporary and made within the last 50 years. They were donated to the museum in 2004 by collectors James and Emilia Govan.
“They made it their mission to travel all over the world to get a crèche from local artists,” Mathers said. “And many they had commissioned.”
Artists hail from Sweden, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Chicago, among many other places. It’s a testament, pun intended, to the global reach of Christianity.
These crèches are marked by the ingenious use of available materials — coconuts, corn husks, tin, glass, walnuts and even an ostrich egg. Or how about a stainless steel kitchen set, with a cheese grater as the stable and a bottle opener as an angel? The Chicago-themed crèche alone is worth the price of admission (the museum is technically free but appreciates a $10 donation).
The first known crèche dates from the 2nd century; it’s a fresco on the wall in the Roman catacombs of Saint Priscilla. St. Francis of Assisi, who gave up his wealth to live in poverty, was known to use a living nativity set as a teaching aid. As they became popular, crèches got more ornate and became status symbols for wealthy folks, who presumably did not follow the Franciscan model of austerity.
Figures created by a Peruvian artists are on display at LUMA’s “Art and Faith of the Crèche” show. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)
“Art and Faith of the Creche” is thoughtfully displayed and lovely to look at, but it lacks the depth of scholarship that might dig into topics like the role of nativity sets in the Jesuits’ (and others) mission to evangelize. What was the impact on local belief systems? Were parts of the Christian canon assimilated? Did the New Testament displace or alter what they believed?
But that would be a different show altogether. As it stands, these crèches are gorgeous and gratifying on whatever level you’re seeking.
Ironically, they won’t last until Christmas — the university closes for the holidays, and they’re only on view until Dec. 21.
Marc Vitali is the JCS Fund of the DuPage Foundation Arts Correspondent.
