IL Bambino

Bambino (Italian for little boy) is a term applied to the swaddled figure of the infant Saviour, which, carved or painted, forms the subject of many altar-pieces in Roman-Catholic churches.

The most celebrated of these is the Santissimo Bambino of the Church Ara Coeli at Rome.

The "Chapel of the Presepio" (manger) is closed except during the Epiphany season, when the whole of this side-chapel is devoted to an exhibition of the Bambino.

Mary, with Joseph at her side and the miraculous Bambino in her lap, is represented as seated in a grotto: immediately behind are an ass and an ox. The shepherds and kings kneel in adoration at one side. In the middle ground is a crystal fountain of glass, near which sheep, made of real wool, are feeding, tended by figures of shepherds carved in wood. Still nearer are women bearing baskets of real fruit on their heads. All the figures are full sized, carved in wood, painted and dressed appropriately. The Bambino, swaddled in a white dress, is crusted over with magnificent diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. The Virgin also wears in her ears diamond pendants.

In the background is a scenic representation of a pastoral landscape, in which much skill has been expended, and with good results.

The festival of the Bambino (Jan. 6) is very largely attended: crowds flock to it, and press about the chapel all day long.

At other times the Bambino is kept in the sacristy, except when it drives out with its special attendants, in its own carriage, to visit the sick, among whom it is believed to work miracles. It is never left alone. The Church Ara Coeli is full of interesting monuments of ancient date.

The interior of the church is vast, solemn, and highly picturesque. It is here, as Gibbon tells us, that on the 15th of October, 1764, as he sat musing, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers, the idea of writing the "Decline and Fall" of the city first came to his mind.