If you’re displaying a variety of carved or painted outdoor nativity sets each year at Christmas and throughout the Christmas season, you’re part of an ancient tradition that dates back many centuries.
If you’re planning to display an object of carving or a display of plaster (or creche) this holiday season, you’re part of an important Christmas tradition that goes to many centuries ago. Find out the history behind Nativity creches.
Tradition
Legend says the saint Francis of Assisi established his first creche in the year Nativity scene was a live spectacle that included an animal, a manger, and a donkey within the context of a Christmas Eve Mass he planned during his visit to this town within the mountain ranges of Grecia.
St. Bonaventure wrote about the events of the evening in the biographical work of St. Francis, “A certain valiant and veracious soldier, Master John of Grecio, who, for the love of Christ, had left the warfare of this world, and become a dear friend of this holy man, affirmed that he beheld an Infant marvelously beautiful, sleeping in the manger, Whom the blessed Father Francis embraced with both his arms as if he would awake Him from sleep. “
Nativity at Christmas
When the first nativity set was created it was adopted and spread. In the span of a century or so, nearly every church in Italy such as, for example, was a part of the custom. Later sculptures of animals as well as live figures were utilized that eventually leading to Nativity displays in homes that are so prevalent in the Christmas celebrations of the present day.
Creches may not be accurate historically since they show both shepherds and they portray the Magi in the scene following Christ becoming a baby. But it is true that the Gospel of Matthew indicates that the Magi followed the star towards Jesus’s home for at least one year following the birth, however, they take their inspiration from famous characters from the Christmas story, and they all in one place.
There are many scholars believe that the first creche to be found in Italy is made up of marble statues that were kept in the Roman Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore and are believed as the creation of the artist Arnolfo of Cambio The statues are believed to be from a variety of periods starting in 1284 and finishing in 1289.
The French region of Provence is renowned as the region where craftsmen create saints (little saints) miniature clay figures, which are made by hand. Like other regions, nativity-themed house scenes are very popular in this region of France However, they were typically intricate and constructed of expensive materials, which made them too expensive for the average household. During the French Revolution, they were nearly completely prohibited.
The year 1797 was when Jean-Louis Lagnel began to make figurines of the Nativity made from clay, making them available to everyone. In the later 20th century, Therese Neveu introduced the practice of firing clay figurines in order to strengthen them, creating the santons that we have today. It is the Musee du Santon et des Traditions de Provence that is home to one of the largest collections of Santons. It’s also the place to witness the world’s most tiny creche, according to the Guinness Book of World Records with 39 Santons to be exact.
Tomas Kryza
The Guinness Book of World Records mentions the creche created in 1838 by Tomas Kryza (1838-1918) as the biggest of its kind. An expert in stocking weaving from the city of Jindrichuv Hradec which is now known as the Czech Republic, Kryza spent 60 years developing the grand display, which features 1389 characters of human beings and animals. Kryza started with his Nativity scene. In the years following, Kryza added creches to the scene. It it is now part of a Museum in Jindrichuv Hradec which also has other Biblical themes, as well as scenes from the everyday life of the 18th century.