Zampognari (bagpipers), the most famous characters of the Neapolitan Nativity scene

Zampognari are among the most well-known and beloved characters of the Neapolitan Nativity scene. But how did these figures so dear to folklore come about?

Among the countless characteristic characters that animate the Neapolitan Nativity scene, there is a particular ‘couple’ that can never be missed. These are the two bagpipers, an older one, who plays the bagpipes, and a younger one, who plays the ciaramella, a kind of flute with a high-pitched sound. Both dress like shepherds and are usually positioned next to the Nativity cave or hut. It seems that already in the Nativity scene set up by Saint Francis of Assisi in Greccio in 1223, there were the two bagpipers. This is because the tradition of the Zampognari is really very ancient, it is lost in a past cloaked in legend and paganism, and only over time has Christianity codified their figures making them the characters we know.

It is certain that the presence of Christmas bagpipers, who play along the streets of towns and cities on festive days, dressed in typical clothes, is a constant recurrent in almost all regions of Italy for centuries and is still very widespread today. In fact, in southern regions and rural areas in particular, the sound of bagpipes and the presence of bagpipes are associated with the holidays not only at Christmas time but throughout the year. With transhumance, migrations and the movement of workers from south to north, the tradition has expanded and the exhibitions of the Zampognari have spread a little everywhere, especially during the Christmas period. Staying within the context of Christmas, usually the zampognari begin to move in the period of the Novena of the Immaculate Conception, on 8 December, when you can hear them on the street singing their melodies dedicated to the Immaculate Virgin. Their repertoire consists of music and songs typical of the tradition.

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In Naples in particular, the tradition of bagpipers playing is so deep-rooted that it would be impossible to think of Christmas without the sound of their instruments playing as a constant background on festive days. And this even though attempts have been made, over the centuries, to limit its presence.

Who are the Zampognari

Tradition associates the birth of the bagpipers with the God Pan, a Greek deity linked to the world of pastoralism and shepherds. Symbol of ‘everything’, Pan was often depicted with both male and female characteristics, in particular with objects and instruments that referred to both sexes. The bagpipes would be an evolution of the flute, or syringe, played by Pan. It consists of a sack, called an otre, made of goat or sheep skin, from which wind pipes emerge, some intended to play a fixed note (drone), others used to tune the melody. The otre fills with air and functions as a reservoir, allowing the player to maintain a constant background sound even when taking a breath. It would have been the priests of Pan who devised this instrument, which encloses in itself the masculine and feminine characteristics of their God in a cosmic union. Pan was associated with the winter solstice, a festival that celebrated the rebirth of the sun, and which over time became Christian Christmas. In the same way, the bagpipe has transformed from a pagan tool into one of the symbols par excellence of Christmas, linked to an environment of wandering shepherds who, with the onset of winter, descended from the mountain pastures to go to the villages and cities of the plain. Here to earn a living, they intoned their lamentable and suggestive lullabies.

In Naples in the eighteenth century, the Zampognari who came from the mountains accompanied with their instruments the prayer songs led by Alfonso Maria de’ Liguori, author among other melodies of Tu scendi dalle stelle. Today there are associations in Naples created to preserve these fascinating figures of the Christmas tradition and not only, which modernity risks making disappear.

Nativity figurines

Among the many people who came to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Zampognari always occupy a prominent place. They are shepherds, often accompanied by a small flock, and they sing their melodies at the hut, to comfort the Holy Family and cradle the sleep of the Child Jesus.

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In our online store, you will find many Nativity figurines dedicated to these picturesque figures, made of terracotta, wood, but also resin and PVC, for every type of Nativity scene and for every pocket. The wooden Zampognaro, for example, is a beautiful 15 cm high terracotta figurine, made in Naples by artisans who have always been devoted to the Neapolitan Nativity scene tradition. His bagpipes are made of wood and leather-effect fabric, and the entire figurine is hand-assembled and covered with cloth, treated and shaped, for a unique work of art.

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30 cm tall, the Shepherd with a bagpipe is instead made of plastic, but with a wood-like finish and entirely hand-painted by specialised staff.
Cheaper, but always of great effect, the Man who plays the bagpipe is suitable for a Nativity scene with statuettes around 16 cm high, while the small bagpipe player  is made of maple wood, just 12 cm high, but made entirely in Italy and finely hand-painted by craftsmen specialising in Nativity scenes.

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