School of Trapani; Sicily, 17th century. "Madonna and Child. Carved alabaster. Measurements: 64 x 29 x 19,5 cm. Mary is standing, dressed in a long-sleeved tunic over a shirt that shows through the forearms, and only partially covered by a mantle, which, when falling, creates the usual movement in this type of work, made in a style very inspired by the Italian Baroque. With one of her arms she holds the small figure of Jesus, with a tender gaze between them that enhances the emotional quality of the piece. Both the lines of this part and those of the carving show the clear relationship with Italian late Baroque models in the present work. Trapani, on the island of Sicily, was an important artistic centre for the production of alabaster devotional figures The city of Trapani was one of the main centres for the production of luxury goods during the Baroque period. Heirs to the classical tradition and also influenced by the Arab world, they created many goods of extreme quality with particularly fine materials. They excelled in alabaster and coral work, as in our case. The Italian nativity scene is one of the most established Christmas traditions, and has remained unchanged for centuries. The oldest is the one located in the church of Santa Maria del Mesebre in 1025, known only from documentary sources. Another of the oldest is that of Amalfi, dating from the 14th century. In 1340 Queen Sancha of Majorca (wife of Robert I of Anjou) gave the Clarisse a crib for the new church, of which the figure of the Virgin Mary is preserved today (Museum of San Martino). Another of the oldest surviving examples, dated 1478, is a crib by Pietro and Giovanni Alemanno with twelve figures. They were also made in marble, as can be seen in the one by Antonio Rossellino of Sant Anna dei Lombardi, dated 1475. Thus, as early as the 15th century, Neapolitan sculptors specialised in the genre, and in the 16th century the first terracotta figures appeared in the crib made by Matteo Mastrogiudice, a nobleman from Sorrento. In the 17th century the Neapolitan crib became larger in its setting, and the figures multiplied; the characters were smaller and often made of wood. Finally, the 18th century was the Golden Age of the Nativity Scene in Naples, during the reign of Charles III. The figures multiplied, the narrative of the representation increased and we will see all kinds of profane elements, with representations of noble characters as well as shepherds, innkeepers, shopkeepers, etc.