The Museum of Santons offers an enriched collection |
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The museum of “santons” (figures for the Christmas crib) offers a new museography and contains a vast number of exhibits including some outstanding figurines made in Naples enes illustrating the traditions of Provenc and Les Baux linked to the Nativity and a documentary film on the manufacture of these figures. The museum houses several different collections - Neapolitan figurines from the 17th and 18th centuries, 19th-century "santons" for churches whose painted papier mâché faces and glass sulphur eyes were made by the Carmelite convent in Avignon and figures by famous makers such as Carbonnel, Fouque, Jouve, Peyron Campagna, Toussaint, Thérèse Neveu, Louise Berger, Simone Jouglas etc. The traditional ceremony of the Shepherds' Offering, known locally as the "Pastrage", is staged against the background of Les Baux de Provence, in front of the village church. A traditional Provençal Christmas crib and the everyday life of a 19th-century family are shown in two large windows. For children, a crowd of small brightly-coloured, naively-painted santons is placed at a height that they can reach. "Making a santon is like playing at being God the Father and, like Him, producing a man from clay." This beautifully-phrased sentence by historian Marcel Provençal summarises the work of the santon-maker very well and expresses all the magic of creativity.
Open daily throughout the year. No admission charge. Office de Tourisme des Baux de Provence Tel + 33 (0)4 90 54 34 39 Fax +33 (0)4 90 54 34 39 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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