Nativity Scene (Crèche)

A physical or enacted representation of the birth of Jesus displayed during the Christmas season, depicting Mary, Joseph, the infant, animals, shepherds, and Magi. The tradition began as a living tableau and evolved over centuries into three-dimensional sculpted figures for churches and domestic use. The living-tableau form spread through Franciscan houses across Europe from the 13th century. Sculptured-figure crèches developed independently in Naples and central Italy from the 14th century, with large ecclesiastical ensembles documented there by the mid-14th century and elaborate domestic presepi by the 17th–18th centuries. The tradition became widespread in Catholic and later Protestant households across Europe by the 18th century. The specific claim of a Jesuit sculptured crèche at the Klementinum, Prague, c. 1560 as the origin of the figure tradition is not corroborated by scholarly sources and should not be cited.