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NATIVITY SCENES FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE ZAGREB ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM

Political and economic circumstances are an important factor influencing not only daily life but also culture and customs. Christmas customs as we know them today were created on the basis of customary elements of pre-Christian heritage, elements of liturgical ceremonies, and bourgeois practices of the Central European cultural circle of the first half of the 19th century, when the modern bourgeois way of life within a smaller family circle was formed. Although nativity scenes, also known as Christmas cribs, appear as early as the baroque period, in the 17th and 18th centuries, they were initially the privilege of the church, the nobility, and the bourgeoisie.

Scene of the Birth of Jesus from the gates of Split Cathedral – replica , Split, 1214, Andrija Buvina, EMZ 48552

The processes of industrialization and, consequently, urbanization, which began in the 19th century, attenuated the differences between urban and rural living. The differences slowly disappeared and cribs spread to rural homes, where they were made primarily for personal use.

Nativity scene, Vela Luka, Korčula, 1930s, Daniel Žuvela – Brbe, EMZ 12767

The custom of making nativity scenes reached broader social strata earlier in areas with developed craft industries and the practice of cottage industry as a complementary economic activity, which is associated mainly with urban centres and their surroundings. It is precisely these social classes that were the main initiators and promoters of the serial production of nativity scenes for sale. Therefore, Central Europe and Italy are considered the home of the nativity scene as we know it today. Nativity scene, Austria, around 1910, serial production, EMZ 48725

Nativity scene, Austria, around 1910, serial production, EMZ 48725

As in other European countries, nativity scenes in Croatia first appeared in churches and then in higher social circles. They appeared on a larger scale in all social strata only in the middle of the 19th century, especially in central and north-western Croatia. These nativities usually consisted of paper figures – purchased or homemade – and they also had homemade backdrops for the surroundings. In Croatia, there were no centres for serial or craft production of nativity scenes, and more expensive items were mostly bought or commissioned abroad. Nativity scene in a cabinet Varaždin, bequest of the Petrony family, around 1870, EMZ 50232

Nativity scene in a cabinet Varaždin, bequest of the Petrony family, around 1870, EMZ 50232

Nativity scenes, usually works of folk artists, local artists, or more skilful individuals, made for churches and monasteries or for sale at fairs, were not so common, so we cannot speak of a developed production practice in this region. Front cover of Svijet magazine from 1933 showing a nativity scene from the EMZ holdings, Bistra, bought at the Kaptol fair in 1922, Franjo Kurjan, EMZ 1955

Front cover of Svijet magazine from 1933 showing a nativity scene from the EMZ holdings, Bistra, bought at the Kaptol fair in 1922, Franjo Kurjan, EMZ 1955

Some of the oldest serially produced nativity scenes in Croatia were made of paper. An example from the beginning of the 19th century, by Ivan Nepomuk Schauff, is preserved in copperplate engravings and prints in the Croatian History Museum, while the paper nativity scene by Rudolf Valić, printed in the 1920s by the Croatian Printing Institute and sold under the name “Folk Nativity Scene,” is preserved in the collection of the Ethnographic Museum.

Paper Nativity Scene - "Narodne Nativity Scene", Zagreb, 1920s, print on Rudolf Valic's frontispiece, EMZ 48736

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NATIVITY SCENES FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE ZAGREB ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM

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