Handcrafted precepio Nativity scene brightens display at Morris Library

The holiday season can be a busy time for everyone, but it’s worth your while to visit the Morris Area Public Library.

There, you’ll have the privilege of seeing a beautiful and extensive Italian Nativity scene, lent to the library by Morris residents Garrett Glass and Mimi Ortiz-Glass.

The set is not an antique, the couple said, nor is it particularly valuable monetarily, but its sentiment, beauty and historical significance means the world to them.

“Precepios are a tradition in Italy that goes back 300 years,” Glass said.

A precepio is the Nativity scene, but unlike those that Americans are familiar with, the Italian versions include more than just the manger scene.

“It’s not just showing the traditional Nativity scene of baby Jesus and the Holy Family,” Ortiz-Glass said. “It’s the life and times of the period. It shows what was going on in the world during those times. It’s quite a community. ... There are shepherds, a whole line of musicians, a bakery, craftsmen and just people going about their business.”

Ortiz-Glass has a couple of favorites in the set. One is a synagogue with a Jewish priest and rolls of the Torah behind him. The other is a group of Roman soldiers.

“I love the Roman soldiers who are down there making proclamations,” she said.

After Glass retired, he continued scholarly pursuits in the Middle East while volunteering as a financial consultant to overseas banks.

About 13 years ago, he and his wife met their daughter, Marissa, overseas where she was studying religion and language.

Inspired by the ancient columns at Jerash, Jordan, and other visits to Naples, Italy, the family began collecting pieces for their own scene.

Glass and his daughter handmade the cave and backdrop for the creche element of the scene.

The figures are dressed in the 17th-century Neapolitan style and are made by the company Fontanini, hand-painted and of a plastic-marble mixture.

The couple recently moved from Oak Park, where their home had three floors and plenty of space to spread out their Nativity diorama. When they were looking to downsize, their daughter suggested they live in her Morris home while she is on a round-the-world motorcycle trip with a friend.

They’re living there now, but there is no room for the Nativity scene.

Being members of Friends of the Library, they asked the director if she might like to show the scene there, and the deal was done. Only about half of the collection is displayed this year.

“We didn’t want to take over the whole library,” Ortiz-Glass said with a laugh.

“I think it’s a nice artistic piece that they were willing to come out and set up themselves,” Morris Area Public Library Director Rose Gilman said. “We are so thankful and blessed that we have people like this in the community who will share pieces like this with us.”