Tag Archives: Deering Family Galleries of Medieval and Renaissance Art

Phenomenal Nativity The Art Institute of Chicago’s spectacular Neapolitan Nativity will be available for viewing through Jan. 6. The display contains more than 200 painted terra cotta figures staged in an elaborate environment inspired by 18th-century Naples. Made by a range of artists from the 1700s through the 1800s, the Nativity was first collected by Vincenzo Porcini, an art dealer in Naples, who then hired Alfredo Laino, a specialist in Neapolitan crèche scenography, to design and construct the detailed setting. Due to the fragility of the original silk costumes and exquisite embroidery, the Art Institute’s crèche can only be on …