« Witnesses from the Past | Main | More Roman Ship models »
January 08, 2007
Contrasting life scenes
The Neapolitan crib scene we saw recently in the Markt Kirche in Wiesbaden was a fascinating vignette of Neapolitan life in probably the early 17th Century. The scene is divided into six sections, with a predetermined order in which they are supposed to be arranged. As I pointed out in an earlier post, the central piece of the lower part is the stable scene, but to the viewers left is the scene in the photograph below - the innkeeper and his guests making merry.
The innkeeper and his guests in the inn adjoining the stable/
Above and again on the left of the stable is a scene which can still be recognised today in old Naples - an old man sits on a small verandah prepared to be shaved by the visiting barber, while in the street a group including a man with bagpipes head for a celebration. Quite a contrast between these two scenes of everyday life hard up against the event taking place in the stable next door. But then, that is what it is supposed to point out.
Note the worried look on the man waiting to be shaved!
John 1: 5 - "The light shines in the darkness; but the darkness comprehended it not."
Posted by The Gray Monk at January 8, 2007 02:48 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://mt3.mu.nu/mt/mt-tb.cgi/4885