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Hand Carved Wood Statuette
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16 inches
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Special Order Item
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Made in Italy
Description
The Standing King Melchior of the Nativity, Bernardi 16″ Series depicts one of the three kings (also referred to as “magi” or “Wise Men”). Balthazar is traditionally a middle-aged man in his 40’s who is standing and offering frankincense to the newborn King of the Jews. This exquisite piece belongs to a 16-piece nativity set (or crèche). This Standing King Melchior is a most important piece to acquire, along with the other two wise men: King Caspar and King Balthazar. With these three pieces in hand, you can grow your Bernardi Nativity year by year, whether as a gift for your own or another family, or as a most generous donation to your church. Eventually your Bernardi Nativity will be finished and will be on display during the Advent and Christmas seasons in your home, school, church, office, or workplace. Fashioned with faith, the Bernardi Nativity is undoubtedly one of the finest nativities ever carved by hand from wood.
The Nativity, Bernardi 16″ Series, Standing King Melchior – A Labor of Love, Hope and Faith
All sixteen pieces of the 16-inch Bernardi Nativity are carved by hand from wood and hand-finished in a workshop in northern Italy. The “Nativity scene” (known in Italy as a presepio or presepe) is truly a most authentic Italian tradition. After all, the first nativity scene ever (a “living” one at that!) was realized in 1223 by an Italian, now a patron saint of Italy, Saint Francis Assisi (go to History/Story tab). While on pilgrimage in the Holy Land, Saint Francis contemplated with his own eyes and touched with his own hands the very spot where, according to tradition, Jesus had been born in the cave below the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Saint Francis recreated the birth of Jesus with living persons and animals so that the faithful could focus and intensify their own worship of Christ by engaging their own senses of sight, smell, touch, and hearing. The Bernardi Nativity is then a most worthy expression of a long and storied Italian tradition and is as “culturally authentic” as it gets – an authentic labor of love, faith and hope!
The Bernardi Nativity – An Exquisite Heirloom Gift for Generations to Come
Every Christmas season, the 16-inch Bernardi Nativity will be on display, radiating depth, beauty, and serenity. During every Christmas season in Europe, crèches large and small will be on display in public places everywhere. May your own church, home, school, office, and workplace be blessed with a crèche of true heirloom-quality, a crèche that expresses with theological and artistic profundity the only real “reason for the season”! This Standing King Melchior along with the entire Bernardi Nativity is an exquisite gift of uncompromising heirloom quality and will surely be on display and cherished for many, many years to come!
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