The church exhibition lists one hundred and twenty-five Italian and foreign nativity scenes, the common denominator of which is the use of handicraft techniques.

The handicrafts of Péterné Daru, Gáborné Tamaskovics and Katalin Tremmel Hudik represent Hungary this year at the international nativity scene in Szent Péter Square, the Hungarian Embassy in Szentszék announced.

The exhibition "A Hundred Nativity Scenes in the Vatican" organized in the baroque colonnade of Szent Péter Square shows the works of three Hungarian artists.

Péterné Daru, a male egg maker from Bodajki, painted the scene of the birth of Jesus on an ostrich egg. The representation on the ostrich egg was made using the egg painting technique, which is etched, scratched and painted. This is not the first time that the artist has participated in the Vatican nativity scene.

Gáborné Tamaskovics, an amateur yarn weaver from Nyíregyháza, is also a regular, and she will participate in the presentation with her work "Christmas Night". The nativity scene on display is in the shape of a Christmas tree and has four floors.

Budapest-based painter, painter restorer and art teacher Katalin Tremmel Hudik's giclée print entitled Magyar Betlehem is a copy of the oil painting on canvas that the artist presented to Pope Francis in March 2024 at one of the general audiences in Saint Peter's Square. The painting depicts the holy family, the space interwoven with plant motifs surrounding the characters evokes the motifs of Hungarian folk art.

The church exhibition actually lists one hundred and twenty-five Italian and foreign Nativity scenes, the common denominator of which is the use of handicraft techniques.

Exhibitors arrived from Venezuela, Japan, Mali in Africa and many European countries. The creators used banana and coconut fibers for the nativity scene that came from Rio de Janeiro, while the Japanese nativity scene comes from the Basilica of Osaka, the site of the 2025 World Expo.

The special feature of this year's Bethlehem exhibition is that it coincides with the beginning of the jubilee holy year.

Hungarian artists participate in the exhibition with the cooperation of the Hungarian Handicrafts Foundation (AMKA) and the Hungarian Embassy in Szentszék, the official opening of which will take place on Sunday on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The free exhibition can be visited until January 6.

MTI

Cover image: Pilgrims' Christmas tree in the Vatican
Source: Facebook/Vatican News