The Nativity Scene Gets a 3D Printed Twist

The nativity scene is one of the most traditional symbols of Christmas across the world, and it has been reimagined this year! Italian startup Jirama has decided to innovate this most historic and religious symbol using additive manufacturing. The company has 3D printed a nativity scene which has now become part of Naples’ centuries-old nativity tradition, so much so that it is on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples during the exhibition “The Courtly Nativity. The Legacy of Charles III.”

Jirama is a young Neapolitan startup born in 2020 that conceives and develops innovative services and products. Its name, translated from Malagasy (the language of Madagascar) as “essence of spirit,” evokes its mission to understand and understand the possible applications of different materials and technologies. Its R&D team, in collaboration with the universities of the Campania Region of Italy and in particular with the departments of Mechanical and Management Engineering, studies new production models to develop re-engineering processes and business innovation in order to obtain advantages in terms of reduction of materials used, and therefore costs, without compensating on quality.

To show the different possibilities of 3D printing, a tuff wall, a Roman brick wall, and a stuccoed wall were included in the crib

On the occasion of the nativity exhibition “The Courtly Nativity. The Legacy of Charles III” scheduled at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) from Dec. 1 to Jan. 31, the startup has created a nativity scene entirely printed in 3D, called Presepe III.ZERO. A project, says Valentina Popolo, Reaserch & Development of New Technologies Jirama s.r.l., “created not to replace the great Neapolitan nativity classics of the centuries that preceded us, but to introduce a new era of production centered on 3D printing.”