Handcrafted Traditional Seasonal Decor

Watching over their tiny son, Mary and Joseph smile as the three kings bring offerings to the Christ child. Alejandro Chavez portrays the Epiphany in three dimensions. This traditional diorama is known as a retablo; each figurine is modeled and painted by hand. About the Artist: Peruvian artisan Alejandro Chavez specializes in the creations of retablos, a kind of reverent diorama-altar unique to the Ayacucho region of Peru. He learned this technique as a boy in school, when he was 17 years old and living in Ayacucho, where his parents moved when he was just 2 years old. When Chavez returned to his hometown, he began working in the studio ...

Carrying their lambs, shepherds in traditional Andean dress find their way to Bethlehem in a beautiful Nativity scene by Alejandro Chavez. He crafts the box to house this retablo (diorama) from wood and paints it in bright colors. Each figure is carefully modeled from ceramic plaster and painted by hand. Chavez names the piece "Bethlehem in Julcamarca" for a town in the province of Huancavelica. About the Artist: Peruvian artisan Alejandro Chavez specializes in the creations of retablos, a kind of reverent diorama-altar unique to the Ayacucho region of Peru. He learned this technique as a boy in school, when he was 17 years old and living in Ayacucho, where ...