Fontanini Baby Jesus 50 Inch Masterpiece Collection

This handsomely crafted Baby Jesus piece
is part of Fontanini�s 50� masterpiece collection. Jesus piece made of a marble based resin. Perfect for your church or business nativity yard decoration. Available to ship 8/16/2008. Jesus lies in a wooden crib filled with hay. He can be removed from the crib. Jesus lies with his hands outstretched. He has a white cloth covering him. Baby Jesus has light brown hair and blue eyes.

The Christmas Crib
In the year 1220 St, Francis of Assissi visited Bethlehem. He liked the way the Christmas was celebrated there so much, that he asked the Pope for permission to recreate it in his own Italian village.
He built a manger in a cave. In it he placed a stone image of the baby Jesus. He surrounded the manger with real animals. Then he said a Mass (communion). The people found it so moving that they said it was possible to believe you were there at the actual birth of Jesus.
Before long, wooden nativity scenes were displayed in churches and homes across Europe. Today they continue to be popular as a way of reminding us of what Christmas is really about, the birth of Jesus.
The tradition was brought into Spain from Naples during the reign of Charles III of Spain. In Catalonia, a figure is included that represents a Catalan peasant. In Provence, in the South of France, nativity scenes are sometimes made up of hundreds of small painted clay figurines called Santon. They represent all the traditional trades and professions of old Provence. Because of their cultural value the Santons are often collected as art or craft objects, regardless of their possible use in a nativity scene.
A nativity scene, also called a crib or cr�che, generally depicts the birth or birthplace of Jesus. Nativity scenes, in two dimensions or three, usually show Jesus in a manger, with Joseph, and Mary in a barn intended for the housing of animals. A mule, ox, sheep, and sometimes other barnyard animals, surround them. The scene sometimes includes three wise men, shepherds, angels and the Star of Bethlehem.
Select this link to view our Nativity Figurines.