The International Exhibition ‘100 Presepi in Vaticano’ – 100 Cribs at the Vatican - is back for its seventh year, a few days before the opening of the 2025 Jubilee. The exhibition brings together works created by artists from all over the world, who have expressed their creativity in producing Nativity scenes. Many of the works present are inspired by the theme “Hope does not disappoint”, from the title of the Bull of Indiction of the Holy Year. The Exhibition forms part of the “Jubilee is culture” series.
The inauguration of the exhibition, which is open to all, will be held on Sunday, December 8 at 4pm under the left Colonnade of Bernini, in St. Peter's Square in Rome, where the exhibition is set up in its traditional home. This unique setting means the numerous nativity scenes, many of them real works of art, can be seen in a context which encourages visitors to marvel at the traditional scene of the birth of Jesus and to prepare their hearts for the start of the Jubilee, on December 24, 2024.
The exhibition will be inaugurated by His Excellency Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, who is organizing the Jubilee, together with other members of the Dicastery and a delegation from the Rome City Council who collaborated with the Vatican in preparing the exhibition. The ceremony will be accompanied by Christmas songs sung by the choir of the School of Music of the French Chateaubriand School in Rome and by the band of the Vatican City State Gendarmerie Corps, who will accompany the event with their music.
This year, 125 nativity scenes will be exhibited, coming from various European countries, such as France, San Marino, Croatia, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and from other parts of the world, such as the United States, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Brazil, Mali, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, and Paraguay. Many of these nations will be represented by their respective embassies to the Holy See, which are responsible for promoting the event in their home countries. These include the embassies of France, San Marino, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Taiwan, and Paraguay.
The nativity scenes display the inspiration and imagination of the artists who have created them - using very different materials, such as Japanese paper, silk, resin, polystyrene, wool, coconut and banana fiber, and glass. Among the scenes displayed, there is the “Jubilee Boat”, a nativity scene produced by artists from the “Città dei Presepi” [City of Cribs] association in Florence, who take up the symbolism of the Jubilee logo in their crib scene.
The contribution from Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Osaka, which will be taking part in the Exhibition in recognition of the presence of the Holy See Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025, uses typical materials from Japan, such as Japanese paper, silk kimonos and tatami mats. Not to be missed, either, are the cribs from the Sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer, in Rio de Janeiro, made with natural materials, including coconut and banana fiber; and a Neapolitan-style nativity scene, made with wood and bark by the Caserta section of the Italian Union of the Blind.
The Exhibition will be open from 4pm on Sunday 8 December 2024, to 7:30pm on Monday 6 January 2025. Entrance, for the entire duration of the exhibition, will be free and no reservation is required. The Exhibition will be open every day from 10am to 7:30pm, except on December 24 and December 31, when the closing time will be brought forward to 5pm. The last entry is no later than 15 minutes before closing time. Volunteers of the Dicastery for Evangelization will be on hand for the entire duration of the event to offer a warm welcome to visitors.