The History of the Nativity Scene

Photo: Nativity Scene at St. Ita’s Church, Chicago, Illinois (2016-01-02 16-11-10a)

The History of the Nativity Scene

A nativity scene, or creche, is a display showing the birth of Jesus. It not only includes the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary and Joseph – but at least one angel, some shepherds, the Magi and various animals such as sheep and donkeys. Today they are generally figurines but some nativity scenes are “living” featuring real people and animals. The scenes are based on the texts from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.

The first known nativity scene was set up by St. Francis of Assisi in 1223 at the town of Greccio in what is now central Italy. He did so to encourage the worship of Jesus. Francis had just returned from the Holy Land and had visited the site where Jesus was born. Francis’ nativity scene is described by St. Bonaventure in his book Life of Saint Francis of Assisi which was written in 1260. It was a living nativity scene and had the blessing of Pope Honorius III (1216-1227).

The practice of setting up a nativity scene spread rapidly. Within 100 years every church in Italy had their own creche. Figurines started to replace the living people and animals. By the end of the 19th century the practice spread beyond Catholic churches. They are now common in homes, Protestant churches, shopping malls and public squares although their presence there often results in controversies from atheist groups.

The Photo

The photo was taken at St. Ita’s Catholic Church, 5500 N Broadway, Chicago, Illinois (Edgewater neighborhood).

I used a Nikon Coolpix P7700 camera to take the photo. I then used Luminar 2018 to apply the Accent filter, lower the color temperature, brightness and whites settings and raise the clarity, saturation, contrast and blacks. I also lowered the exposure on the infant Jesus and the sheep.

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