What is the origin of the Nativity Scene?

In the middle of the night, the Gospel of Luke relates, Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” This Gospel account not only describes with vivid detail the birth of Christ, but it also serves as the inspiration for a centuries-long tradition of recreating the manger scene.

In English, we call these representations “Nativity Scenes,” or more simply “Crib” (French “crèche”; Italian “presepio”; Spanish “pesebre”; German “krippe”). These representations can be living or static, and they can include as few as three figures or as many as hundreds.

At its most simple, the Nativity Scene depicts Mary and Joseph gathered around the baby Jesus. The Virgin, who has just given birth, is generally represented kneeling before the infant, in an attitude of worship.

Other figures are presented in traditional depictions, such as the angel who announced the birth of Christ, and shepherds, who, as St. Luke recalled, were “living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.”

The mule that carried Mary to Bethlehem normally appears in the stable, in addition to an ox. Some see this as an interpretation of this passage from the Old Testament: “An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master’s manger; But Israel does not know, my people has not understood” (Isaiah 1:3). The ox would represent the Jewish people and the ass would represent the gentiles, both united together in the adoration of the Child Jesus.

The Three Kings also make an appearance in some Nativity Scenes. The Gospel of St. Matthew reports: “When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.’”

“On entering the house,” he continued, “they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

According to a history of Nativity Scenes compiled by the news agency, Fides the earliest representation of the Nativity is in a fresco of Mary, the child Jesus, the Magi, and an eight-pointed star that dates back to the second century, found in the catacombs of St. Priscilla. It’s unclear if the male figure is St. Joseph or Isaiah. Sarcophagi from the fourth century depict Mary and Jesus receiving gifts from the Magi, and one found in Milan depicts just three figures: the Child Jesus, an ox and an ass.

An early mention of a three-dimensional Nativity Scene is in connection with the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, known in the 7th century as “Sancta Maria ad Praesepe” (St. Mary of the Crib), which possesses relics of Christ’s manger. According to the basilica’s Web page, Pope Sixtus III (432-440) created a “cave of the Nativity” that was similar to the original place of Christ’s birth. Pilgrims brought back relic of the Holy Crib of Christ, which are no preserved in the golden Confessional Shrine.

In 1288, Pope Nicolo IV commissioned a marble sculpture of the Nativity by Arnolfo di Cambio, which is said to be the oldest known static, three-dimensional Nativity Scene. The figures of the Nativity, which include Mary, Joseph, the child Jesus, the three Magi, an ox and a donkey, are preserved in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. In 2005, the set of 3-foot figures was moved to the basilica’s public museum.

In 1223, however, St. Francis of Assisi assembled the first living Nativity Scene. According to a biography of the saint written by Thomas of Celano (1200-1265), St. Francis had enlisted the help of a wealthy man named John to “do something that will recall the memory of that child who was born in Bethlehem, to see with bodily eyes the inconveniences of his infancy, how he lay in the manger, and how the ox and ass stood by.”

The result was the first recorded living Nativity scene. Thomas set the scene: “The manger is ready, hay is brought, the ox and ass are led in. Simplicity is honored there, poverty is exalted, humility is commended and a new Bethlehem, as it were, is made from Greccios. Night is illuminated like the day, delighting men and beasts. The people come and joyfully celebrate the new mystery.”

St. Bonaventure offered another account, in which he added that St. Francis had first asked permission from the Pope (Honorius III) to assemble the Nativity Scene. St. Francis, he reported, then “made ready a manger, and bade that hay, together with an ox and ass, be brought unto the spot. The friars were called together, the folk assembled, the wood echoed with their voices, and that august night was made radiant and solemn with many bright lights, and with tuneful and sonorous praises. The man of God, filled with tender love, stood before the manger, bathed in tears, and overflowing with joy.”

According to Fides, the practice of assembling living Nativity Scenes spread, but as a development of liturgical drama. With time, the living scenes became more lavish, and finally the Council of Trier prohibited the practice, opting instead for the static displays. They cited concerns of the degeneration of liturgical drama.

The first static Nativity Scenes were made in Italy, with the figurines being made of marble, wood or terracotta. Many of the earlier Nativities were composed of large, almost life-sized figures, were displayed throughout the year in the side chapels in churches, or in convents, and were the works of great artists.

The Council of Trent (1545-63) encouraged the diffusion of the Nativity Scene “as an expression of popular piety,” reports Fides in a dossier on Christmas Nativity Scenes. The Jesuits, a new congregation at the time, used the devotion as a means of evangelization, and as a way to counteract the new practice initiated by Martin Luther of decorating a Christmas Tree.

In the 17th century, the Nativity Scenes lost their original simplicity, and developed into depictions not only of the Savior’s birth, but also of everyday life. Fides notes: “Nativity Scenes became a mirror for the culture which produced them, reflecting the society of the day and the most vivacious aspects of daily life with traits of intense realism: they were enriched with unusual and exotic elements and spectacular scenery, displaying inventive imagination typical of Baroque.”

At the same time, the Cribs were assembled not just for Churches or convents, but began to appear in the homes of aristocrats, often involving detailed scenes of the local villages and taking up an entire room. The large figures were replaced with small ones that were made partly of straw or wood, with movable limbs and heads, and clothed in the finest fabrics. These families would then open up their homes for public viewing of the Nativity.

In Naples, the Nativity Scene reached its Golden Age in the 18th century. Fides reports that Charles III, King of Naples, awarded the house with the best Nativity Scene, thus encouraging each family to attempt to outdo the other in size, originality, and extravagance. A typical Nativity would include an expansive market, the inn that rejected Mary and Joseph, and a multiplication of figurines that represented everyone from the Child Jesus, to the town jester, to the royal court. “This varied humanity triumphs over the Gospel story,” Fides reflected. “The Nativity withdraws to the background, what counts is the spectacle, farce, drama portrayed all around it.”

Despite the tendency of extravagance, many hold the Neapolitan Nativity Scenes to be the most beautiful representations of the birth of Christ. Many of these Cribs are preserved in museums around the world, including one that is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In the St. Martin National Museum in Naples, one can see one “Il Presepe Cuciniello,” one of the largest and complex Nativity scenes in the world. The set dates back to the 1800s and includes hundreds of figurines (162 people, 80 animals, angels, and about 450 objects) representing the Holy Family, shepherds and angels, and members of the Neapolitan community. The figurines are made of wire, with hands, heads and feet carved and painted with great detail.

In 1982, John Paul II inaugurated the tradition of placing a life-sized Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square. Each year, crowds of pilgrims wait in the cold for the magical moment in St. Peter’s Square when, shortly before the start of midnight Mass, presided over by the Pope, the life-size Nativity scene is unveiled. The crèche gives the faithful a small glimpse of what it must have been like thousands of years ago in Bethlehem, when the shepherds witnessed the birth of a Savior, and adored him while he way lying in a manger.

In 2008, Benedict XVI reminded the faithful of the importance of the Nativity Scene in our homes: “In a few days' time Christmas will be here and I imagine that in your homes you are putting the finishing touches on the manger, which is a particularly evocative representation of the Mystery of the Nativity of Christ. I hope that such an important element, not only of our faith but also of Christian culture and art, may continue to be part of this great Solemnity: it is at its roots a simple and eloquent way of commemorating Jesus who, in making himself man, came ‘to dwell among us,’ and in the manger really lives with us.”

The International Marian Research Institute in Dayton Ohio hosts an online Crèche gallery in which it displays Nativity Scenes from around the world. In the introduction to the exhibition, the site notes that the “center of any and all nativity sets is the Christ child. Everyone and everything else revolves around him, as fits the ‘firstborn of creation.’”

However, the introduction adds, “pious imagination did not stop at the traditional actors and actresses of the Christmas event. Other figures were added, and whole new stories interwoven with that of the birth of Christ. They all have this powerful message: Christ is born for all of us, at any given time, no matter color or culture.

“The Christ child is a magnet which attracts people from all walks of life. They all bring gifts of gratitude, visible and invisible ones, and converge on him who gives them faith, hope and love for God and each other.”