For many people today, setting up the crèches and adding to their collection of figures is a nostalgic activity to be enjoyed with family. Originally, the purpose of the santons was to recreate religious scenes, but today there are a wide variety of uses for the figures.
This tradition is highly connected to the environment here in Provence, because these figures are traditionally made from a natural clay found in the Provencal countryside outside of Marseille, the largest city in Provence. The person credited with starting the tradition of santons in France is Jean-Louis Lagnel, a potter from Marseille who lived in the late 1700s. While these figures are now sold in other parts of France, the tradition is rooted in Southern French culture, and the material used tells the tale of where the figures were made.
