In this period there is a lot of talk about the Christmas tree, its lights, its decorations. Not to be forgotten, however, is the religious symbol of Christmas par excellence, the nativity scene .
The word crib comes from the Latin praesaepe which means "manger", where the Child Jesus was placed by Mary and Joseph to warm him from the cold of the night.
The depiction of the nativity has ancient origins: Christians painted and sculpted the scenes of the birth of Christ in meeting places, such as the Roman Catacombs.
When Christianity managed to free itself from the yoke of clandestinity, the images of the nativity began to enrich the walls of the first churches; only from 1200 did the first statues begin to be seen.
Do you know when the first nativity scene was created with all the protagonists of the nativity?
It dates back to 1283 , by Arnolfo di Cambio : he sculpted eight wooden statuettes representing the nativity and the Magi. This nativity scene is currently kept in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
In Italy the activity of physically representing the nativity scene with statues of various materials originated in Tuscany and spread to the Kingdom of Naples , where the Italian primacy is still held in terms of tradition, curiosity and innovation . In fact, between 600 and 700 Neapolitan artists decided to introduce characters immortalized in everyday life into the Nativity scene, especially during their work.
This tradition , whose purpose is to recreate the atmosphere of the birth of Jesus, is still very much alive ; in almost all the houses there is at least a corner, a shelf, a small surface intended to house the classic figurines. There are those who love to reproduce the environment as faithfully as possible, using grass, leaves, sand and real stones, also inserting small water sources created with aluminum sheets, mirrors or silver and blue glitter.
There are those who prefer to buy everything already pre-packaged and illuminated and only having to assemble it and those who love DIY and recreate every little detail with their own hands: natural moss always makes its figure. You can remedy with what our garden offers us or maybe buy it, natural or synthetic: also in this case the variables available are many
Then adding pebbles, straw, or branches can make the difference and make it more likely. Even snow can be recreated with polystyrene, flour, cotton or special sprays that generate artificial snow.
The figurines of the characters available are many: of every material and category, they will make the nativity scene unique and inimitable ; especially if you choose characters that are a little different in addition to the classic ones.
Do not forget then small colored lights, glitter, border festoons and bows which, applied to the edges of your nativity scene will make it magical !
And how will you build it?