CHRISTMAS

Santons

The Bible states that God fashioned Man from the earth. The santonnier (craftsman who makes santons, traditional Provencal figurines for the Christmas crib) makes his miniature saints out of clay. Do they have a soul? Each figurine, made from an original model and hand painted, is a one-off piece. These typically Provencal figurines each have a particular role and symbolic significance.

Most santons represent humble tradesmen or religious figures, including offering carriers, worshippers, and Biblical characters.

The origins date back to the medieval mystery plays, live Nativity scenes, and Christmas cribs which began in churches and then started to appear in homes during the Revolution, when religious rites were outlawed.

Every year the santons are passed on from father to son and new characters are added to the Christmas cribs.

List of the main santons :

Baby Jesus (l’enfan Jèsus)
The Blessed Virgin (la Santo Vierge)
Saint Joseph (Sant Jôusè). They are not dressed in European-style clothes.
The star (l’estello) guides the santons to the stable
The Three Kings (li tres rèi)
The page-boys (li pàge)
The chubby-cheeked angel (l’àngi Boufarèu) The chubby, cherubic angel who heralds the birth of Jesus with a golden trumpet
The donkey (lou ase) who carried Mary, heavy with child, to Egypt, is one of the main figurines.
The ox (lou biôu) is the symbol of labour and sacrifice. The oxen warm up baby Jesus with their breath.

The miller (lou môunié) known as Master Cornille
Martoune the midwife, carrying a crib
Virginie brings a rabbit from the scrub
The baker (lou boulangié)
The washerwoman (la bugadièro) représents wisdom
The knife-grinder (l’amoulaire) named Laïeu.
The tambourine player (lou tambourinaire) the joyful, smartly attired Guillaume
The fisherman (lou pescadou) The Provencal poet Frédéric Mistral invented the Christmas fisherman
The fishwife (la peissouniero)
The woodcutter (lou bouscatié)
The spinner (la fielarello) Marto, with her distaff, is one of the three Parcae or Goddesses of Fate
The snail merchant (la marchando de limaçoun): « a l’aigo sau lei limaçoun »
Pistachié or Bartoumiéu, the farmhand, is not very bright and falls in the well. He wears a red handkerchief, a hat and carried a dried cod.
Jiget, another farmhand who stutters

Monsieur le Maire (moussu lou conse)
The parish priest (lou curat) Reverend Father Gaucher
The Girl from Arles (arlatenco)
The basketmaker (lou panieraire) Vincent, Mireille's beau
The hunter (lou cassaire) depicted as Frédéric Mistral
The scholar (lou pantaiaire) Jean Henri Fabre, an entomologist from Sérignan, lying in the grass
The shepherds (li pastre), Sauvaire, Giget, Nourat, and Janet, symbols of Provence, the first people to worship the Infant
The awe-struck worshippers (lou ravi) Mystical figures, portrayed with their arms in the air
Jourdan e Margarido, the good man in a hat and his shrew of a wife
Rustido, Jourdan's neighbour, also wears a hat
Margarido, the 2nd Margarido and his donkey, dressed in a black hat, carrying a shopping bag and a red umbrella and bringing a cake for baby Jesus
Grasset e Grasseto, an old couple, standing arm-in-arm
The blind man and his son (l’avugle e soun fièu) He hopes for a miracle
The Bohemian (lou boumian) looks suspiciously around, with his hand on his cutlass
The sheep (li moutoun), goats (li cabro), dogs (li chin), rooster and hens (lou gau e li galino), pigeons (li pijoun), ducks (li canard), camels (li camèu).