King of the nativities scene makers fans of his work come from all over italy to get a photo with him. His mama anna also known as propecia or little dolls can hardly believe she spent fifty years packing up the Three Wise Men and other figurines. Meanwhile marcos nephew daveed wonders how hes going to paint two dozen masks for the pooch another figurine by the seeming but his other uncle says you have to pull out all the stops for the customers you know this is put you know that the symbol of naples. That marco even has the edge on publicise stunts were going to spend a few days or you know and his Family Dollar bag out i think all that cleared up more joy tonight we want to see how they cope with the prechristian a stress on vs an gregorio out of may know. The orders are coming thick and fast the christmas rush is intense but marco is the epitome of calm. Marco is working on an order fifteen lots of jesus mary and joseph they are all supposed to be identical. Cousin newco is giving the cribs a quick trim its not exactly a fine art. You know each all the same but shun them when you. But just when things threaten to get boring beyond joel and rico are there to boost flagging spirits in the last eighteen days before christmas they work their way through son craig oriel our man oh giving a blessing to the artist since we were not im one of the shooting mother she trotted out with our. Little Christmas Carols and Conveyor Belt cribs are yesterdays news for many of us. Theyre more interested in star power going to the war with the teamsters to the royals Fairless Coney and so feel the rent. She wants visited marco in person so did poverty Opera Singers t. V. And football stars are a booming business if only his family could keep up. But i dont miss that out i. Love my work around the clock i cook im the mama i was a wife i do it all anything else but. Full steam ahead and the moneys pouring in three days before christmas the number of last minute orders are mounting including ones from customers who want to have themselves modeled in terra cotta. The latest project a tie in celebrity chef rubio was brought to bear on her mother to photograph of her. Marcos cousin luke also needs to pull out all the stops all over. The world the man with tattoos has his own remedy for coping with the christmas stress. Kept out of moves that owns a month old. Image of him. His job is to make all the tiny glass eyes in marcos figurines. You. Know what ive done nothing but class size for fourteen years. In a book the. Single coolest thing i like it i have eyes everywhere eyes are symbolic of everything i do ive got loads eyes here eyes their eyes everywhere. The figurines used in the name of politan nativities scenes are called puss story the word actually means shepherd but in naples it refers to any figurine. Its a centuries old craft that also provides a good story for photojournalists in the run up to Christmas Young artists like look good in the papers shes learning the traditional handcraft from marco. A lot this time if i think that about the head is made of terra cotta out with glass eyes which look a mix of the hands and feet or wouldnt the body has a flexible iron skeleton covered with hemp he said for most of the proportions are based on leonardo da vincis famous drawing you know she was so you have exactly the same distance between the outstretched arms and between the head and feet forty centimeters each way. For to and for. Very good so marco is the great pass story artist the theater director if you like but where is his stage. Coach and ella says we can find a stage builder just around the corner the first alley on the left by the oriental negativity seen with its onion domes and camels and. Then right back to the loneliest corner of the old convent. Santa magellan a sunday jewel daily but i. Artisan mario says the nuns gave him this little cage as a workshop no one really knows whether thats actually true. With just three days to go until christmas hes not having a good time the main fuse keeps popping out with the patience of a saint he goes over and pushes it back in umpteen times a day. His Guardian Angels have never let him down yet his business still stands mario says making nativities scenes is a service to god but chin the with stuff they have its hallelujah. At primary things ok i get all of. The backdrops that he creates for nativities scenes look pretty wild mario says thats because before christ came the whole world was in spiritual ruins it seems a little over the top but without the press epic as locals call their nativities scenes naples wouldnt be naples and mario wouldnt be mario in them a unit of thats very difficult its as if i were communicating directly with a nativity scene its a real journey of the imagination how does he young. Yeah. Marco has no time for imaginary jerk. Niece or communicating with his figurines his nephew debbie that needs to make a delivery. Russia says you collect two hundred euros off you go. To the dogs. And that hamas cut. Down. Play the two. I sent her a feeding. Station the right fresh local. Police so. Thats it. For the moment no thats not and you the one i wanted had different wings and no thats the right one. For the baby daughter does look quite beautiful does not know who did what he could have a bit more color. That wasnt my job signora i didnt even know it was an angel. But. Good paying customers in pussy to pull the wealthy district of naples can sometimes be difficult. Mario our other nativities the maker is also earning a few extra euros here before christmas. To top and. Hes come to teach the children how to build a need to be seen michael so all they think of this one. In the dark with a little but tell me do you like building a pivot is ames. Oh. You know i know well that was clear enough but while the plastic container is ok for the children it all seems a little antiquated. To one of them what do you think maria will it be a Virtual Press f e one day at tronic nativity what houses that many with escalators and all kinds of electronic things only get. No no no no no place safety will always be the same. Throwing them out of cork and wood for all eternity as tradition dictates we wouldnt want to see the Three Wise Men with cell phones know what the of course we want they followed the star of bethlehem thats what led them to christs birth place. I doubt that he had nappies then but all that it was easier when i was here. Marios one concession to the twenty First Century a small motorized pump for the front. And back of the vs and gregorio out of me no its been a long hard day in the workshops but naples is far from settling down for the night. Out oh. Oh oh. Oh. Oh oh oh. Oh oh oh oh marcos nephew whos a fan of you ventus sure and a cardinal sin in naples is going out. Im just going out with a couple of friends ok he has been a teacher too thin for winter want to tell it was some idea. And spine mom and she took in the car only a moped he would moped just one thing the quad woman dont drive too fast think that. In general too cool young hip hoppers meet in front of the nativities slowly it could only happen in naples. At the other end of the city some other hip hop fans are dancing at home. Luka the glass eye specialist isnt just a fan of the music he also wraps himself. In the. The story. Was once a rebel teenager on the wild streets of naples now he has a job wife and family but hes still married to his music. I only make protest music im not interested in making money or a profit or you can. Look as long standing friend is his rap partner welcome even though hes really a nice place that needs to be more from a hot start again. And that. Both of them have one great hero a hip hop legend from new york. Like many young people in naples two pack med and early Death Threats against. The sons and he was a man of the streets none of us are saints and yes evil socalled is somehow appealing to me but i try to do good things even if i look mean and ugly im actually a nice guy at home with my family im passing on the values of christmas and good neapolitan tradition. Looka is clearly a rapper with a big heart. And even divvied up surrounded by women and reveling in the naples nightlife insists that the native and figurines in the Family Business is more important to him than the bars even if his friends think hes crazy. Thats so one of his cousins who is out with him asks him why hes doing a job like that at his age whats the point he asks with it would say you know what its about going to tell you whats important to me is carrying on my family name i really mean it even though im young and happy to hang out with you and the others im willing to make sacrifices even if its hard to get up in the morning ill still go to the workshop. Let it get to. Groove. A new day dawns in naples. June oh miss. The youll be she moved this. Piece to me. Its. The woman some streets even have their own nativities see the madonna on this one was found in the garbage with bullet holes through her body no one knows why but she was lovingly restored to her proper place. That i she put in. For boss marco is still in bed but he cant stay there much longer he has to open the shop. With only two days to go until christmas. Theres just enough time to replace his bed cap with a woolly one. For. His mother and a picked up by. Marc own lives in the same building a. Local will also need to leave soon the glasseye expert hip hopper and devoted daddy says in the end it all comes down to one thing the ways that our way its all for love that well out of the law your love for a woman for yourself. There sweetheart take this. I want to love us have a love is the most important thing in life without love you have no life and if you have no life you cant move forward thats just how it is. So long but its. Part of the gaza those are keen to shift our but. Its not the money and its not even the precept the or the pastoring the need to view the scenes and the figurines that draw marco and all the others to sun gregorio art may know each morning. Its not the fame or all the popes that marco has met. Down in the pantheon to be sure hes not theres not enough protein or sophia loren its for the family and more than anyone else for marcos father. This is me at the age of six. Im catching my dad he was such an important person everyones dad means a lot to them but i think my dad was just that little bit more important to me before than. Marcos father died a few years ago his widow ana still misses him every day he built an altar to sametime tonio above the shop door. Is going to see julie every year on june the thirteenth anniversary of sometime tony is definitely a big red for the poor people of the city for these days theres hardly anyone who goes hungry but we still do it just in memory of my husband whos happy friday. That we have to make a nice statue every yeah its so beautiful it keeps getting stolen. Marcos father giuseppi inherited the shop from his own father now marco is the one in charge. For the most. Marco is Something Like a father to luka even if they both make jokes about their relationship so were not just cousins we have the same haircut. The same haircut maybe but not the same head because what is your head is something i think. Lets just say there was a time when i had to bring this boy back on to the straight and narrow. But i had a few problems that i passed. Though the bodybuilding. Nobody saw i injured a guy one time but actually he was the one who was trying to attack me then twenty years ago i was only a little gun. Actually it was two thousand and one that was huge a mammoth of a guy and a rugby player and i got next show and there was this girl that i lied but he wasnt happy about it. He told me not to turn up at our school but i went anyway so we had this fight and i. Really gave it to him it was so bad that i was arrested and locked up when i came out marco gave me this job and here we are. To if theyre here in my famous rehab center. By nine am everyones out and about except for one. That. The man who set to take over marcos rehab Center One Day has overslept orange juice is not enough of a day well need some stronger drugs for. Us. If youre not. Good at what time do you call this the book of oh yes this am i a bit late there are several but is the very latest on how theyre always late its not on going. Ill raji both from now on for every minute that you arrive too late you stay for three minutes longer in the evening we received people. Its now the morning of Christmas Eve debbie does mother another annamaria is doing some last minute shopping she knows everyone around here and they own love her. Dog. Car all the jewelry july did you. Put it. On that bus quality you say the little seashells a good communicator that it was that big. Bananas seafood walnuts. Its time for a chat with greengrocer from call animal rhea is a proud moment for. Obama said the other day works for me so he always does on a tip if he see that little fallujah theres a million jews in the family always says mama thats my job i said but after my son carry on. But today davida isnt working on any nativities scenes marco has sent him out on deliveries again. Two hours before the shops close some category you are may know is in party mood. That it. Was. Well that what you marco can hardly move for the customers. Enough. To pickle neapolitan is the customer who turns up on the last day when does he know does it needs one when hes laying the table its the same with presents at six pm you find people here looking for last minute gifts on Christmas Eve what they wrote in a boom bust. But mario shop is not running so well. On Christmas Eve normally one of the busiest days of the year hes hardly sold anything mario goes home. Even pulled janetta has earned more than him today. And just as davida has finally got round to painting his put yellows another traditional neapolitan character comes breezing in. The show show the man who said to drive out evil spirits. Show show as you show her what you want to. Go over what weve in since and. Incantations follow the saying goes that in naples everyones born an actor and those who dont make it into the theatre find their own stage show or show youre sure. Its nearly closing time while marco tries to help his last customer find the right gift juji his puppet maker is busy practicing her speech for tonights Christmas Party shes got quite an audience. And she set out to. Find out. Judy is nervous and marcos team arent helping its going to be stuck. So maybe she does there are here i am again just like last year our job is to make a story and nothing is by chance we dont just work to get it for me this is one big family a marker the comedian is staring out ship kisses from a judge he should be allowed so by she. Would write does it all down by. June the most with the busiest three days before christmas now finally over marco shuts up the shop its time to celebrate. Its. Would like to have worn the dickie bow for the christmas dinner with his parents but he only has. One shirt with a collar and he couldnt find it anywhere. But as she put. On the strike of midnight davide lays baby jesus in the manger hailing the official start to christmas according to neapolitan tradition. And vs son in gregorio our main street of the nativities scene makers is finally quiet. Then they. Can. Custom with. New poll numbers. To. Fuck. Your max highlights the sky was the best of the best. Because rican johnson never gets enough last. Lifestyle was the highlights. Was her its just that. I call the graphical representation. A loving portrait. Of reflection of the time. Children. From the middle ages to the quintessential. Last piece of paper to what they tell us about. A child. Forty five minutes. Stories that people the world over information they provide the paintings they want to express d. W. On facebook and twitter up to date and in touch follow us. Images from an isolated country. Images from north korea or any telling photographer captured fascinating shots of everyday life in a regimented society. An exclusive peek behind one of the last iron curtain its. A north korean diary starting december twenty eighth on d w. It. Welcomes all my life so i louis house and then i will be here with a for the next half an hour take