The Metropolitan Museum of Art will celebrate the winter holidays at all three of its locations—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Cloisters, and The Met Breuer—with a variety of holiday-themed events and performances, as well as its annual Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche presentation, a display of a spectacular late-19th-century silver Menorah, and handcrafted medieval holiday decorations.

At its location on Fifth Avenue, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will once again bring to life the traditions and spirit of the holiday season with decorations, programming, and more.

The Met will continue a long-standing holiday tradition with the presentation of its Christmas tree and 18th-century Neapolitan crèche, a favorite of both New Yorkers and visitors from around the world. The installation will be set in front of the 18th-century Spanish choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid in the Museum's Medieval Sculpture Hall (Gallery 305). Recorded Christmas music and daily lighting events will add to the enjoyment of the holiday display.

The exhibition of the crèche is made possible by gifts to The Christmas Tree Fund and the Loretta Hines Howard Fund.

In conjunction with the celebration of Hanukkah—the Jewish Festival of Lights, observed this year from the evening of December 24 through the evening of January 1—a magnificent, late 19th-century silver Menorah made in Lviv, Ukraine, will be on display in The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Galleries (Floor 1, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Gallery 556) through January 12, 2017. Made in 1866–72 for the Great Synagogue in Lviv, the ceremonial lamp, which is cast, chased, and engraved with elaborate motifs, is one of the largest silver Hanukkah lamps known. The Menorah is on loan from The Moldovan Family Collection.

The eight-branched Hanukkah Menorah commemorates an important moment in Jewish history: the triumphant Maccabean revolt against the oppressing Seleucid Empire and the re-consecration of the Jewish Holy Temple in 165 B.C. The lamp's eight branches reference the miracle in which the last jug of pure olive oil, which should have lasted only one day, kept the Temple Menorah alight for eight days.

The magnificently-lit, 20-foot blue spruce is gracefully adorned with 19 cherubs and 59 angels, while at the base an additional 71 figures represent the three elements of Nativity scenes that were traditional to 18th-century Naples: adoring shepherds and their flocks, the procession of the three Magi, and spirited peasants and townspeople. The display is enhanced by nearly 50 charming animals and by background pieces that create a dramatic setting for the Nativity; these include the ruins of a Roman temple, several quaint houses, and a typical Italian fountain.

The exhibition Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven (on view through January 8, 2017) demonstrates the key role that the Holy City, sacred to the three Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—played in shaping the art of that period.

Also on view at The Met Fifth Avenue: Fragonard: Drawing Triumphant (through January 8, 2017), Valentin de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio (through January 16, 2017), Max Beckmann in New York (through February 20, 2017), Native American Masterpieces from the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection (through March 19, 2017), and the newly extended Fabergé from the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation Collection (through November 30, 2021).

The annual Christmas display has evolved through the generosity, enthusiasm, and dedication of the late Loretta Hines Howard, who began collecting crèche figures in 1925. Mrs. Howard conceived the idea of presenting the elaborate Neapolitan Nativity scene under a Christmas tree—a tradition rooted in Northern Europe, with angels swirling upward to the crowning star—and was later ably assisted by her daughter Linn Howard. Over many decades, Linn Howard contributed to the tree's great beauty by adding and improving details that are fundamentally reflected in the current display.

This unusual combination was first presented to the public in 1957, with The Met's exhibition of Mrs. Howard's collection. Since 1964, more than 200 18th century Neapolitan crèche figures have been given to the Museum by Loretta Hines Howard and displayed in the galleries each holiday season.

Christmas Tree Lightings
Beginning Friday, November 25, tree lighting events will take place daily at 4:30 p.m., with additional ceremonies on Fridays and Saturdays at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. All are free with Museum admission. More information on an accompanying audio guide is available on The Met website.

All three of The Met locations—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Cloisters, and The Met Breuer—are closed on Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1.

A full list of holiday programs is available at metmuseum.org/holidayconcerts. For tickets, visit metmuseum.org/tickets or call 212-570-3949.