Italians who do not desire a break, at Christmas, from Mr Berlusconi and the scandal surrounding him can purchase, for their nativity scenes, figurines of the Premier, his estranged wife and the two women at the heart of the rumours.
Noemi Letizia, the 18-year-old whose birthday party the Premier attended, is depicted in a blue mini-skirt and D&G top, whilst Patrizia D’Addario, the escort who has written a book about her alleged relationship with the Premier, is wearing a short, low-necked, black dress.
The presepe [crib] is the most important representation of Christmas throughout Italy and cribs are displayed in churches, squares and homes.
They often contain figurines representing local people and in homes the figurines may have been handed down through the generations. Cribs are usually set up ready for the Immacolata Concezione holiday on December 8th but the figurine of the baby Jesus is not added until Christmas Eve.
The tradition began in 1223 when St Francis created a living crib in a cave in Greccio, where the townsfolk reenact this event every Christmas. After the death of St Francis three years later the custom of the Christmas crib spread through Europe and gradually carved figures replaced living people and animals. The home crib became popular in Catholic Europe from about 1600 onwards.
However, it was the craftsmen of Naples who, in the baroque era of the eighteenth century, elevated the carving of the wooden figures to an art form and now they work on the figures all year in order to be ready for Christmas.
It is not unusual for politicians and celebrities to be represented: figures of Diana, Princess of Wales were made following her death in 1997 and last year representations of Barack and Michelle Obama were popular. Figurines of Michael Jackson and George Clooney – popular in Italy for his good judgement in choosing a girlfriend – can also be purchased this year.
If you are in Naples you can see many cribs, including the famous Presepe Cuciniello with 162 figures of people, 80 of animals and over 450 miniature objects, at the Museo Nazionale San Martino.
