Art of Advent Day 13

By Ava Palermo

The Met’s Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche.

Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Each December, the Metropolitan Museum of Art quietly transforms into one of Manhattan’s most atmospheric and comforting holiday destinations. Tucked into the Medieval Sculpture Hall, the Met’s Christmas tree rises twenty feet high: a towering blue spruce glowing with soft white lights and presiding over one of the museum’s most beloved seasonal traditions.

Beneath its branches unfolds an elaborate eighteenth century Neapolitan baroque nativity scene, bursting with life. Silk robed angels hover above a beautifully constructed mediterranean harbour town, where merchants and townspeople gather alongside the holy family. The nativity scene is gloriously filled with people, its sacred core embedded within the bustle of everyday life. Camels push past fishmongers and elegant courtiers stand near humble shepherds. The divine presence arrives not in isolation, but amid noise, trade, and movement.  

The installation is set against a beautiful Spanish choir screen from the cathedral of Valladolid, anchoring the spectacle in the Met’s medieval collection. Since 1964, when 140 Neapolitan figures were gifted to the museum by Loretta Hines Howard, the tree has returned annually to this space, becoming a ritual in its own right. Many of the figures are attributed to Giuseppe Sammartino, the celebrated Italian sculptor known for his virtuoso handling of marble and stucco.  

A detail from the Met’s nativity crèche, an annual tradition that features Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus as its centrepiece.

Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

On view through January 26th 2026, Holidays at the Met is an immersive experience - one where art, history, and seasonal magic are felt and experienced under one very luminous tree.