Chapel 6 - The Nativity

The chapel depicts the scene of the birth of Jesus in a cave. The altar, the star embedded in the floor, the cave and the two lateral staircases mimic those of the lower Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The statues were modelled by Gaudenzio Ferrari. The original statue of the child was stolen and it was replaced in the mid-nineteenth century with a wooden sculpture by Giuseppe Antonini. The sculptural group aimed at creating a three-dimensional altarpiece and it was placed inside the chapel shortly after March 1514.