Ceroplastic depicting the Nativity, Rome, 17th - 18th century

with a gilded wood oval theca framing a polychrome wax relief depicting the Nativity. The composition depicts the Madonna and St. Joseph with the baby Jesus in the centre being gently shown to the Archangel Gabriel, with a chorus of cherubs around him.
The iconography is reflected in a bronze plaque of the 1667 attributed to the Baroque sculptor Romano Antonio Giorgetti (1636-1669). The derivation might suggest a casting model prepared for the plaque and used by Roman waxworkers.
This kind of artefacts has ancient origins and is mainly linked to Italian artistic production, particularly in central and southern Italy, between the 17th and 18th centuries. The quality of the figures and scenes, together with their probably central-southern provenance, highlights the influence of the Baroque tradition in the depiction of popular religiosity of the time.