Origins of the Christmas Crib

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Francis set up the first nativity scene in 1223 in Greccio, Italy, to emphasize the humble circumstances of Jesus' birth and to bring the Christmas story to life for the local community. Cribs: The term “crib” is often used interchangeably with “nativity scene” and refers to a representation of the birth of Jesus.

The traditional creation of nativity sets is presumably due to St. Francis of Assisi. This is because it can be demonstrated that he recreated for the first time the history of Christmas in 1223 with people and living animals. He chose as a setting a manger in a wood near the monastery of Greccio. He used the vivid scenery to bring believers who did not know how to read the Christmas Gospel of Luke, which presumably dates back to the 2nd century, closer in pictures.

At that time, Francis of Assisi was certainly not aware of laying the foundations for a custom that would last many centuries. But the road that eventually led to today's cribs was still a long one.

The main objective was the interpretation of the Christmas Gospel. Since it was mainly about a child lying in a manger, it was assumed that the newborn child should come from a poor family and therefore from ordinary people. As a result, only the image of Jesus in the manger was often used to represent the Holy Night.

Probably the oldest crib in the world is located in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. In a side aisle of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore there is an altar of 1291 by the sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio, which depicts the Adoration of the The Three Wise Kings: origin, meaning and traditions in alabaster statues.

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This illustration proceeds from a vintage catholic card, and belongs to the public domain, which means either that copyright has expired in the image or the copyright holder has waived their copyright. Franciscan Gallery charges for the access to high resolution copy of the image. Manually restoration was necessary in order to improve quality, without covering the original image.