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50 scenes, many on loan from library, give international flavor to Christmas
By Dorothy Shinn
Beacon Journal art & architecture critic
Published on Sunday, Nov 16, 2008
Krippe, Belem, Presebre, Presepio, Nacimiento, Creche — no matter how you say them, they all mean Nativity, and more than 50 of them from countries around the world are on view at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens through Dec. 28.
Upstairs, downstairs and in milady's chamber, 39 nativities on loan from the collections of the Marian Library of the University of Dayton, along with several belonging to Stan Hywet and on loan from volunteers, have been placed throughout the main parts of the house as part of the historic Seiberling mansion's annual Christmas festivities.
The University of Dayton's Marian Library has some 1,500 nativities in its collection, one of the largest in the United States.
The nativities at Stan Hywet come from artists and artisans from such far away places as Togo and Madagascar and as nearby as Trotwood, Ohio, and Gladwyne, Pa. They've been made by trained and untrained artists out of materials as varied as banana leaf, paper, straw, natural latex and vegetal ivory (large, white seedpods).
While the central characters — Mary, Joseph, the infant Jesus, angels and wise men — usually remain the same, a host of auxiliary characters has been added, depending on local traditions and interpretations of this story, central to the Christian faith.
As most of the Stan Hywet house tours do, this one begins in the Great Hall, where a huge Christmas tree sits by the fireplace and a horse has just brought in part of a tree trunk to be burned as a yule log.
By the fireplace, a TV monitor displays a film of Irene Seiberling's 1923 wedding on Christmas Day in the Music Room.
Somewhere else in the room, an audio tape of one of the family's Christmases from the 1940s is running. It seems Santa had stopped by the house, and all the Seiberling grandchildren were on hand to greet him.
''The grandchildren were each supposed to perform a little skit in front of Santa to receive their present,'' said Katharine Campbell, Stan Hywet vice president of marketing.
The first two nativities are in the library, down the hall from the Great Room. The first is a classical scene between a beautifully sculpted angel and the Holy Family, done in sculptor's wax.
Titled A Fallen Angel? (2002), the work is by Michael Montag of Elkhorn, Neb. While the Holy Family looks on in mute harmony, the magnificent angel prostrates his powerful body before the cradle, to some resembling the posture of a fallen angel.
The second work, titled High-Level Conversation (1996) by Juan Melchor Ojeda of Oaxaca, Mexico, couldn't be more of a contrast.
Created in painted wood, the central characters of Mary, Joseph and the Holy Child are surrounded by colorful figures from Mexican folklore, including a funky and expressive ox and ass and two angels on an elevated platform who are said to be debating the birth of Christ and his possible success or failure.
''The Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph are often not the most interesting characters in many of these nativities, and that's because of where the nativities come from,'' said Donna Spiegler, Stan Hywet communications manager, referring to a talk given by the Rev. Johann Roten, SM, director at the International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton's Marian Library.
The next stop is the West Porch, where three nativities are placed. These are from Nigeria, the American Southwest and Ecuador.
The first, One People (1995) is by an anonymous Nigerian artist in thorn wood. This Nativity highlights the camaraderie of African village life. In the midst of several groups stands the almost overlooked Holy Family. But they are not forgotten, for all the little groups are moving toward them, despite the many distractions of the burning sun, the eerie tree, the red bridge, the swiftly moving river and the temple on the mountain.
The second Nativity in the West Porch is Sun, Pepper and Snow (undated) and is by Native American artist Jil Gurule in painted clay. Done in the Pueblo style, the work represents the Holy Family's flight into Egypt. Gurule's idea of the Nativity included the entire village: piled-up adobe homes, the flow of life, and the faces and colorful costumes from both the past (kachinas) and present.
The third Nativity is called A Humble Praise (2004) by Jhonny Covena of Ecuador. The abundant life forms displayed in this Nativity seem to have been carved from ivory, but in fact the material is Tagua palm tree seed, known as vegetal ivory.
This might be the most populated of all the nativities, as in addition to the main scene with the Holy Family and wise men, there are many examples of animals that populate the landscape of Ecuador and the Galapagos.
The music room contains the most nativities — 11 in all, including scenes from Iceland, the Tzintzuntzan region of Mexico, Madagascar and the Franklin Mint.
In the Solarium are nativities from Ghana and Indonesia. The three in the Dining Room are mainly American, including one loaned by Stan Hywet volunteers Roberta and Ed Charles, a beautiful Raku ceramic set by American artist Don Smith and and Amish Christmas (2003) by Esther O'Hara.
The nativities continue through the butler's pantry and the kitchen and out into the hall and breakfast room. Upstairs, each of the bedrooms, dressing rooms and Mrs. Seiberling's morning room have received at least one Nativity.
The Nativity in the Seiberlings' bedroom has sparked some controversy, as has one in the the bedroom shared by Penfield and Willard Seiberling.
The one in the boys' bedroom is from Chiapas, Mexico, and shows a Nativity surrounded by guys wearing balaclavas and carrying guns. The work in part alludes to the Zapatista insurrection of recent years, and in part the somewhat eccentric local notion of who's a good guy and who's not.
The controversial Nativity in the Seiberlings' bedroom is called In Praise of Mothering (1997) by Taller Elmilagio of Venezuela. This shows two dominant mother figures of pre-Columbian tradition, representing a birthing mother and a feeding mother. The Nativity scene, dwarfed and traditional in style, provides an abrupt contrast. The controversy has to do with the graphic, albeit stylized and somewhat abstract nature of the pre-Columbian figures.
''There are those who think we ought to remove this one,'' said Campbell. ''But it's about giving birth, so we think it's appropriate.''
For those who want a preview of the nativities, plus a sampling of the University of Dayton's Marian Library collection, there's a large number of them online, although not nearly as nicely presented as they are at Stan Hywet. Visit http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/gallery/creches/crechesworld.html.
Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at the Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640 or dtgshinn@neo.rr.com.
Krippe, Belem, Presebre, Presepio, Nacimiento, Creche — no matter how you say them, they all mean Nativity, and more than 50 of them from countries around the world are on view at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens through Dec. 28.
Get the full article here.
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