This year, the southern city's garbage crisis has become a recurring theme among the artists and craftsmen along the street, which is barely three meters wide.
And so it came to pass that the Madonna, St. Joseph and even the baby Jesus wear face masks to protect themselves from the stench of the uncollected garbage in Naples.
....
"I meant this to be a provocation to those who govern us. I don't think it's nice to put sacks of garbage in the manger near the baby Jesus but it was necessary," said Di Virgilio.
"We needed to get this message across," he said.
Gets your attention, all right. It seems the stench and sight of the garbage was not enough to get the mess cleaned up, although, according to the article, the historic city center is now clean. But surrounding neighborhoods are still piled with garbage.
From Reuters, which has as the main part of its story:
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange may be alone in jail in London, but in the traditional Neapolitan Christmas creches he is in good company -- with Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Assange, who is depicted holding his trusty lap top, was created by Gennaro Di Virgilio, who each year chooses at least one contemporary character to sculpt and place near the scenes of the traditional story of Jesus' birth in a manger.
"I included him to poke a little fun at the world and have a good time," said Di Virgilio, 29, whose family has been making nativity statuettes and ornate creches since 1830.
To me, the story of the Holy Family wearing face masks is far more fascinating.
