Exhibition
In 2023 the Museo Diocesano Carlo Maria Martini marks two important anniversaries: the eighth centenary of the first Nativity scene, created by Saint Francis at Greccio in 1223, and the third centenary of the birth of Francesco Londonio (Milan, 1723 – 1783), the Milanese painter who specialised in producing Nativity scenes painted on paper. It was Londonio who created the extraordinary paper Nativity scene known as the “Presepe del Gernetto” (the Gernetto Nativity Scene), part of the Museum’s permanent collection and shown here fully restored for the first time.
To celebrate these two important centenaries, for the Christmas season the Museo Diocesano – in collaboration with the Raccolte Grafiche and the Raccolte Artistiche of the Castello Sforzesco in Milan – presents a small exhibition that, starting from a focus on Londonio’s work devoted to the pastoral and bucolic world, tells the story of the flourishing tradition of paper Nativity scenes in Lombardy.
The oldest examples, etched and hand-coloured, date from Londonio’s time and are linked to the output of various publishers. Numerous sheets with the same subject were also published in Milan during the 19th century by the Vallardi brothers, a tradition that continued into the early years of the last century, with colour lithographs inspired by the French imagerie of Épinal, as well as greetings postcards and pop-up cards devoted to the Nativity scene.
