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Depictions of the Nativity
Depictions of the birth of Christ are among the most common subjects in Christian iconography. They can be categorised into a number of different thematic groups, ranging from simple depictions of Jesus in the manger watched over by Mary and Joseph, to elaborate scenes featuring shepherds, sheep, an ox and an ass in a humble stable with Bethlehem as a backdrop and a comet in the sky above. Some authors describe Nativity scenes that are actually staged recreations of the scene of Christ’s birth with figures that display the characteristics of different regions of the world and other peculiarities of local or regional environments. In this way the universality and symbolic importance and message of this birth on a global scale is emphasised.