Start of Nativity Scenes
But the Nativity scene now re-created in town squares and churches around the world was first conceived by St. Francis of Assisi.
Much of what scholars know about Francis comes from “Life of St. Francis,” written by the 13th-century theologian and the philosopher St. Bonaventure.
Francis was born in a merchant family in the Umbrian town of Assisi situated in modern-day Italy, around 1181. However, Francis did not like his family’s wealth earlier in his life and took off his clothes in the town square. When visiting the Umbrian town don’t forget to buy outdoor nativity sets for sale which are so unique in Italy.
In 1209 he established the mendicant order of Franciscans Franciscans, a group of religious believers that dedicated themselves to works of charity. The Franciscans today serve by serving the material and spiritual demands of the less fortunate as well as the marginalized in society.
According to Bonaventure, Francis 1223 sought permission from Holy Roman Emperor Pope Honorius III to undertake a project “for the kindling of devotion” to the birth of Christ. As part of his preparations, Francis “made ready a manger, and bade hay, together with an ox and an ass,” in the tiny Italian village of Greccio.
One witness, among the crowd of people who attended the occasion, told of how Francis included a carved doll that shed the tears of happiness and “seemed to be awakened from sleep when the blessed Father Francis embraced Him in both arms.”
The story of the crying doll moved everyone present as Bonaventure writes. However, Francis also performed a miracle as well: The baby’s hay in healed animals from illness and protected humans from diseases.
Nativity Imagery in Art
The Nativity story continued to expand within Christian religious culture long after Francis’s death. In 1291, Pope Nicholas IV, the first Franciscan pope, ordered a permanent Nativity scene to be created in Santa Maria Maggiore, the largest church dedicated to the Virgin Mary located in Rome.
The Nativity theme was the most prominent in Renaissance art.
This first living Nativity scene, which was popularly painted by Italian Renaissance painter Giotto di Bondone in the Arena Chapel of Padua, Italy was the first step in a new style of staging an event celebrating the birth of Christ.
In the Tondo, a circle-shaped painting of the Adoration of the Magi by 15th-century painters Fra Filippi and Angelico, there are not just their sheep but also a donkey, a cow, and an ox. There is also a peacock who flies over the manger’s top to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
Political Turn of Nativity Scenes
After Jesus’ birth, Jesus, King Herod felt that his power was threatened by Jesus was threatened, decided to execute the boys younger than two years old. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were ordered to leave to Egypt.
As a way of acknowledging recognition that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were refugees themselves In recent years some churches have utilized the Nativity sceneries as a form of political protest to make a statement on the need for immigrants to receive justice. Specifically, the “protest nativities” have criticized the executive order on family separation along the U.S.-Mexico border.
These displays, which draw attention to the plight of immigrants and asylum seekers, bring the Christian tradition into the 21st century.
Vanessa Corcoran is an adjunct professor of history along with an academic counselor for Georgetown University.