NATIVITY SCENE

The Nativity of the Sanctuary is an ensemble that has varied over time. The oldest records date back to 1779, when the little angels of Glory and an Infant Jesus are mentioned for the Christmas Eve procession. Between 1883 and 1884, three shepherds and the Three Wise Men were added, the work of the Palmero artist Aurelio Carmona. In the 20th century, small figures, animals and some houses made of cardboard, cork and stones were added. Nowadays it is made up of the Mystery, which consists of the figures of Saint Joseph, the Virgin and the Child Jesus; the Three Wise Men, a page boy, an angel, two shepherdesses and four carved wooden shepherds.
If we look at the Nativity scene, we see that the angel divides the stage in two: on the left is an ideal garden, with columns and flowers, reminiscent of the Baroque world of the 18th century, the period when the figures of the Mystery and the cut-out paintings of the ox and mule were created; on the right is dedicated to the popular tradition of the island, with a mountain of crumpled paper with some models of buildings rescued and identified by period photographs. In the centre of the scene we find the Mystery together with the Kings and shepherds adoring the Divine Child, lying in a golden cradle and surrounded by symbolic offerings.