Fondazione Museo Il Divino Infante
The world's greatest collection of Holy Child's statues on lake Garda (Italy)
By Associazione culturale GardaMusei
Fondazione Museo Il Divino Infante
Vista panoramica del museo (2018/2018) by GardaMuseiAssociazione culturale GardaMusei
The Museum Il Divino Infante, located in Garden Riviera, houses the greatest collection of Holy child, Mary child and Neapolitan nativity sacred statues. More than 300 sculptures collected over the years by the owner of the museum, Mrs. Hiky Mayr, talented restorer and passionate about art. Mrs. Hiky Mayr progressively widened the number of works and the worth of the collection kept in her museum, which has reached a great level of prestige.
Teche con statue (2018/2018) by GardaMuseiAssociazione culturale GardaMusei
THE HOLY CHILD
In religious documents, which have been handed down over the centuries, we can not find concrete references to the adoration of Baby Jesus, which in religion and art has taken place independently of the adoration of Mother Mary.We only find it mentioned in some of the written thoughts of various Church Fathers dating back to the Middle Ages, a time when religion needed to manifest itself with a strong visibility such as the adoration of relics and pilgrimages.Thus the pictures are very graphical and quite sensational. This is the time to which we can date back the first original representation of Baby Jesus. Its adoration was first propagated by Franciscan monks. After the first representation of the nativity scene in a crib in Greccio in 1224, which has been initiated by Francis of Assisi, the brotherhood of this convent in Bethlehem has been distributing small Baby Jesus sculptures.In the museum Baby Jesus can be admired in very different forms: naked or beautifully dressed as a small king, displayed in splendid glass cases or in small boxes which were used to transport the divine child during processions or to exhibit the sculptures.They were also used to keep the figures in the private praying rooms of rich families. In Hiky Mayr’s collection the life of Jesus Christ is depicted in a most extensive representation of "Memento mori” with all its passions and melancholy but also with the most beautiful moments of its childhood.This unique and impressive collection, the only one in the whole world accessible to the public enriches experts as well as any other visitor to the museum due to its huge variety of exhibits displayed under the most diverse aspects.
Maria Bambina avvolta di turschese e argento (1800/1800) by GardaMuseiAssociazione culturale GardaMusei
MARY'S CHILD
Alongside the well-known adoration of the divine child Jesus, an adoration which has been spreading since the Middle Ages, we can also find the cult of Mary’s child which has been manifesting itself mostly in Northern Italy and there again in particular in Lombardy.According to the ideas of Cardinal Federico Borromeo (1564-1631) we are talking about the representation of a female baby child which has been put in nappies and is surrounded by angels. Due to the very limited area of distribution these statues of Mary’s child are very rare. As far as one knows these figures were mainly given to girls who entered a convent or to young brides as a symbol of fertility.In a showcase in Hiky Mayr’s collection we can admire seven impressive examples, two of them are particularly valuable.
Il presepe Napoletano (2018/2018) by GardaMuseiAssociazione culturale GardaMusei
THE NEAPOLITAN CRIB
Any visitor to the museum will admire the Neapolitan crib, which is taking up the space of over 25 square meters and has been positioned by Hiky Mayr in such a way that it is possible for the visitor themselves to play an active part in the nativity scene represented.This crib reflects the traditional and for a crib dating back to the 18th century also typical Neapolitan theatricality.It has been enriched with a vast number of extras and additional figures mainly carved from wood with hands, feet and heads made of clay. Moreover, there are numerous animals as well as objects such as clothes, jewellery, furniture and bridle gear among other things in this crib.This crib has its special meaning in the fact that it combines its original function, which has been dictated by years of tradition, with the splendour of its representation.The art collector Hiky Mayr has been very successful in gracefully reawakening an Italian and in particular Neapolitan tradition to new life.In doing so she has subdivided the individual scenes and main figures into a precise order so that the visitor can easily understand all particularities of each single scene.
Scena del presepe napoletano (2018/2018) by GardaMuseiAssociazione culturale GardaMusei
THE RESTORATION
Much of the activity made by the collector is occupied by the wooden and textile restoration of the statues found around Italy. The careful restoration work allows to bring back to the ancient splendor sacred statues dating back to the last centuries. It may come as a surprise to see the devotion and passion Hiky Mayr shows when working on her exclusively Italian sculptures. During the restoration process, which requires a lot of patience, she breathes new life into the sculptures and thus makes them to living witnesses of the past and of old traditions.
Corona lavorata in filo d'oro ornata con gemme di vetro colorato (1700/1700) by GardaMuseiAssociazione culturale GardaMusei
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