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# Ceramic nativity scene by Castelli artisans in Saint Peter's Square in 2020
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/na-ploshchadi-sv/
- Published: 2020-12-11T20:57:16.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:05:01.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Faith, Art, Observations, Rome

In St Peter's Square the Christmas tree has been lit and the crib unveiled, which, all in all, has become one more unexpected gesture from Pope Francis. Never before has the Nativity scene been presented in such implausible figures. If I am honest, only the ram in this composition looks like itself. Each year both the tree and the crib are donated to the Holy See by different communities. In 2020 craftsmen from Castelli in the Italian Abruzzo sent life-size ceramic statues, quite astonishing to behold, which recall either pagan Germanic deities or Lego figures. The Pope, as usual, invested this message too with a special meaning, "the world is changing", stressing that to receive the gifts of grace one must feel oneself simple, poor and humble, like these figures from the crib. But I recall that last year Francis I visited the 100 Presepi exhibition of Christmas cribs from St Peter's Square of different years, of which, at the time, 150 were from Italy and 40 from other countries. Evidently, this year His Holiness has decided to give a little shake to a prosperity grown stale.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_3661@11-12-2020_23-57-16.jpg)