Fanal of the Nativity with dried flowers, red fruit tree and pearls

In this scene of the Holy Family, Christ Child leans naked on a mattress, depicting His birth. He is surrounded by dried flowers and flanked by a pair of pewter candlesticks. The Virgin and St. Joseph are crowned with haloes and with their left hand on their hearts, contemplating the Child. The event takes place under a branch forming a tree, on which a few small long feathered birds, leaves, fabric flowers, berries and fancy beads can be seen.
The Museo de Artes de la Universidad de los Andes, Santiago de Chile, exhibits a group of 16 "fanales". A "fanal" is a structure that consists of a wooden base on which a bell glass or bell jar is mounted, used in Europe during the eighteenth century for scientific and decorative purposes. When transferred to Latin America it takes a totally different character: a “fanal” becomes a devotional object from the moment a religious Christian figure is placed in the inside.