Press and museum record
Where Navidad's work has been written about, photographed and exhibited. Every entry links to the piece itself.
Museums and exhibitions
Navidad settings are lent to, and kept by, museums that show the crèche as a living art form. The Glencairn Museum's annual World Nativities exhibition has shown Navidad work for seven years, and the Bryn Athyn Nativity for the New Century is in its permanent collection.
World Nativities Exhibition and Christmas in the Castle Tour
The museum's newsletter walks through the 2023 World Nativities exhibition: 65 nativity scenes from 33 countries. Among them is a Norwegian set carved by Henning in a snowbound forest setting built by Navidad, on loan from the atelier. A second scene in the show, Mezalick Design Studio's “No Room at the Inn”, credits the work of Navidad Nativities as one of its inspirations.
“The original setting was made by Navidad Nativities, Inc., of Bucks County, PA: “Inspired by Scandinavian simplicity and the enchantment of a Nordic winter's night. Nestled in a forest of frosty Norway spruce trees among the shimmering drifted snow.” On loan from Navidad Nativities, Bucks County, PA.”
800 years after the first nativity scene, Glencairn exhibit highlights wide variation of the Christmas display
Philadelphia's public radio station marks the 800th anniversary of St. Francis's first nativity at Greccio with a visit to Glencairn. The piece singles out A.J. DiAntonio's Italian-style presepe for the exhibition: a hundred square feet of village life around the Holy Family, populated by 178 vintage figures made by Tuscan artisans.
“DiAntonio turned his obsession into a business, Navidad Nativity, which collects vintage and contemporary artisan figures and builds elaborate nativity scenes for clients.”
Celebration of 800 Years of the Creche
The former Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven marked the crèche's 800th year with an exhibition drawn from its own collection, running from November 2023 to March 2024. Navidad's St. Francis Nativity, a grotto in the manner of the Umbrian hillsides with figures carved from mountain maple by ULPE Wood Art in Val Gardena, was on loan to the show.
In the press
Feature writing and photography about the atelier, the two artisans behind it and the studios whose figures it carries.
Navidad Nativities
A long profile of Michael Stumpf and A.J. DiAntonio at the Sanctuary Atelier in Buckingham. It traces the business from Stumpf's childhood Woolworth nativity to his building designs for the Fontanini division of Roman, Inc., sold through more than 5,000 stores, and notes that in 1999 the Vatican approached him about its official Centennial crèche, a commission he had to decline for other deadlines. It also records the permanent presepio at Byers' Choice, shown during Pope Francis's 2015 visit to Philadelphia.
“We design settings that evoke the meaning of the birth of Christ. There is a symbolism, a purpose, to what we do.”
Photos: Navidad Nativities
A photo essay from inside the Buckingham workshop as the Glencairn Nativity for the New Century took shape: the first building blocks, hand-made columns going on, the reference photographs pinned up around the bench, and the finished piece. The captions put the build at about 400 hours.
“Michael Stumpf and A.J. DiAntonio start with handcrafted figurines they buy in Italy and Germany, and create unique settings around them in their Buckingham workshop.”
Read at Bucks County Courier Times ↗The Glencairn Nativity →
Heirloom Quality Nativity Figures
The county's arts and antiques pages on the European studios Navidad represents in Italy, Germany and Spain, with figures carved in wood from the Dolomites, and on the one-of-a-kind wooden settings built at the Sanctuary Atelier. It lists the collections that hold Navidad work: Glencairn Museum, the Byers' Choice Nativity Museum and Trinity Church Wall Street.
“Our one-of-a-kind, highly detailed nativity scenes, most with dramatic lighting, are crafted completely of wood, right here in The Sanctuary Atelier in Buckingham, Bucks County by artisans Michael Stumpf and A.J. DiAntonio.”
Galleries
Where Navidad settings are shown and sold beyond the atelier.
Navidad Nativities artist page
Navidad is represented as an artist by The Sacred Art Gallery. Its page introduces Michael Joseph Stumpf and Anthony Joseph “A.J.” DiAntonio, the Sanctuary Atelier, the all-wood construction of the settings and the hand-painted figures gathered from studios around the world, and sets the work in the tradition that began with St. Francis at Greccio in 1223.
Collections and commissions
The record the proof band summarises on every page. Each line names where it is documented.
- “Bryn Athyn Nativity for the New Century” is in the Glencairn Museum's permanent collection
- Featured contributor to the World Nativities Exhibition at Glencairn Museum for seven years
- A Navidad nativity is in the collection at Trinity Church Wall Street, New York
- The largest Navidad nativity is at the Nativity Museum at Byers' Choice
- Designs reproduced through 5,000 retail locations under an exclusive licence with the Fontanini division of Roman, Inc.
- Commissioned by the Knights of Columbus (the St. Mary's Creche, 1882, for the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center)
- Featured in Country Living, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Princeton Magazine, CBS3 Philadelphia and PBS
Also featured in
Coverage from before the web kept everything. These are the outlets the atelier has recorded over the years, in print and on television.
- Country Living Magazine
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
- The Daily Intelligencer
- Nouveau Magazine
- Local Living Magazine
- Bucks County Town and Country Living Magazine
- The Creche Herald
- Catholic Faith and Family
- Giftware News
- The Fontanini Voice
- The Saint Anthony Messenger
- The Lehigh Valley Morning Call
- The Bucks County Herald
- CBS3 Philadelphia
- PBS
- WFMZ television
Navidad Nativities was also awarded first place for Best of Show at the Pennsylvania Holiday Show produced by Southern Shows nationwide.
Press enquiries
Writers, editors and museum staff are welcome to get in touch for interviews, photography, or to arrange a loan for an exhibition.