The nativity scene as a Christmas tradition with the nativity figures as well as many others, was a tradition that emerged in the Middle Ages, with Saint Francis of Assisi. Did you know that the first nativity scene was made in Greccio in Italy at Christmas 1223? This nativity scene was made in a forest and was made with people, so it was an authentic living nativity scene. This cleric, with this act, tried to explain better to ordinary people how the birth of Jesus Christ had been, which was the reason for the celebration of Christmas.
It is interesting to see the presence of the crib in art over the centuries, since in the beginning of the first steps of the representation of the birth of Christ, it was common to appear in the 4th century (years 300’s) women midwives, and the ox and donkey had already started to appear in the 11th century (years 200’s). These nativity scenes were not nativity scenes like those we know traditionally, but representations of the birth of Christ in sculptures and paintings!
Nowadays, traditional nativity scenes are common where various figures related to the religious and profane world are used, and materials such as moss and bran, and the famous Caldeiras nativity scene in Furnas, São Miguel, is also well known!
Last modified: 16 de December, 2021
