Presepio
by ARNOLFO DI CAMBIO, Marble
In the 1280s, probably during the reign of Pope Honorius IV (1285-87), Arnolfo created the Praesepe (crib) group for Santa Maria Maggiore (in the oratory of the Presepio, beneath the Cappella Sistina, since 1586, when the figures of the Virgin and Child were replaced by a 16th-century Virgin Enthroned attributed to Pier Paolo Olivieri.
The Presepio Group, consisting of the Adoration of the Magi, has been dismantled and falsely reconstructed, but with the exception of the Virgin and Child all the original pieces appear to exist. Although the ensemble was designed by Arnolfo, the carving of the squat figuresseems to have been done entirely by members of hie workshop.