After many years, the nativity at Downtown’s Catholic Cathedral Parish once again boasts its largest feature – a four-foot-tall elephant.
The Cathedral creche (nativity display), created in Italy in the early 1920s, is hand-carved and painted, some in the style of Middle Eastern folk, and features more than a couple dozen figures of people and animals. The differently sized figures illustrate scale and depth of the scene. Church leaders said the collective art piece is an authentic display of ethnic diversity that was shocking in those days and made quite a statement.
Unfortunately, the nativity’s original elephant went missing and left the display lacking a key piece which added balance as the artist had intended. After many years of displaying the creche without an elephant, local artist Gina Golden was commissioned by Easter Conservation Services to create a replacement.
Using basswood, Golden hand carved the elephant based on faint photos of the original. She then painted it to match the set by referencing elements of designs from other figures in the set. Over the course of almost a year, working on it as time allowed, Gina was able to present it to the church in November, in time for the 2024 viewing. “It was a true labor of love,” she said. “I painted a heart inside.”
To view the complete nativity, visit SS. Peter & Paul Cathedral at 1347 North Meridian St.
Golden creates original paintings, drawings, as well as sculptural and functional art. She is a master restorer of art and antiques such as paintings, sculptures, furniture, lighting, ornate picture frames, and more. Art making has been her lifelong endeavor, and she has worked as a conservation technician for over 16 years.
