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Some thoughts on building models of all types and sizes


Some thoughts on building models of all types and sizes

Welcome. If you have not visited Minature Buildings before can I suggest you begin with my Aims and Scope article or at the Home Page. If you have visited before - welcome back. I hope this article is of interest to you.

Nativity Models

For some reason, which I do not entirely understand, I 'collect' nativities.  About 30 different ones come out when we decorate the house for Christmas.  But I also gather photos of nativity paintings we see in churches, galleries and museums.  And of nativity models we see.  These usually include some models of buildings in and around the central scene, which allows this side interest to get a place within Miniature Buildings.  On this page I concentrate on nativity models, mostly from Italy (Presepes), Spain (Belen) and France (Santons). Variations on a theme.  Nativity artworks - pictures and sculptures are covered in a separate page.

Taking photos in museums is often difficult - usually because of the lighting.  So in this site I have tried in some instances to find better images online of pictures we have seen.  At the moment they are in no particular order.

During our visit to Spain in 2023 we visited Arcos.  Tucked away in a back street is a Nativity exhibition - the Belen - featuring "The Artistic Nativity Scene El Cambaria exhibited by the association of Nativity Scene Makers 'La Adoracian'".  This "simulates the inside of a cave with different sized holes through which we can see a unique, luminous and fantastic scene that recreates the landscape of Bethlehem.":



These are just two of the pictures I took.  I am working on a dedicated page
 to show more of them.

There was another in St Pedro's church in Arcos:


 

 

The Italian tradition of nativities, presepes, is commonly associated with Naples.  Naples claims to be the root of the tree: napoliartigianatoartistico.com/en/la-lavorazione-artisticoartigianale-del-presepio2/, but it also exists in many other areas.

Bologna: bolognawelcome.com/en/blog/nativity-scene-in-bologna

Liguria : discoverportovenere.com/best-nativity-scenes-liguria/


This is just one example of an Italian Presepe.
;I have a separate page on Presepi

There is also a page on French Santons, though this is mostly about the figures rather than buildings.