Nativity of Jesus in later culture facts for kids

The story of Jesus' birth, also called the Nativity, has been shown in art for a very long time, ever since early Christianity. Today, artists still find new ways to tell this important story. You can see the Nativity in plays, movies, TV shows, and even in music like operas.

How the Nativity is Shown in Art

The birth of Jesus has inspired many different kinds of art. Artists use their skills to bring this ancient story to life for new audiences.

Books

• The famous book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (written in 1880) includes the story of Jesus' birth in its first part.

Plays

The Nativity story has been a popular subject for plays for hundreds of years.

• In medieval times, the Nativity was often part of Mystery Plays. These were big plays that told stories from the Bible.
• Many writers have created their own Nativity plays:
  • Laurence Housman wrote Bethlehem in 1902.
  • Lucjan Rydel wrote Polish Bethlehem in 1904.
  • Cicely Hamilton wrote The Child in Flanders: A Nativity Play in 1922.
  • Dorothy L. Sayers included the Nativity in her radio play He That Should Come (1938). This play was part of her larger series called The Man Born to Be King.
• Even the famous French writer Jean-Paul Sartre wrote a Nativity play. It was called Bariona ou le fils du tonerre. He wrote it in 1940 while he was a prisoner of war. Sartre saw Jesus as a symbol of resistance, much like the French Resistance against the German occupation at that time.

Operas and Musicals

The Nativity story has also been told through music, especially in operas and musicals.

• Rutland Boughton, an English composer, wrote a popular Nativity opera called Bethlehem in 1915. Later, in 1926, he changed the setting. He showed Jesus being born in a miner's cottage. This was to support the miners during a big strike.
• Two From Galilee is a musical that tells the story of Mary and Joseph before Jesus was born.
• Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Monetti is another well-known opera about the Nativity.

Movies

Many movies have shown the birth of Jesus, from big historical films to animated stories.

• Ben-Hur (1959) starts with the Nativity story. One of the main characters, Balthasar, also talks about it later in the film.
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) also begins with the Nativity.
• Monty Python's Life of Brian (1978) shows a funny scene where the Magi (wise men) accidentally go to the wrong stable.
• The Nativity Story (2006) focuses entirely on the events leading up to Jesus' birth.
• Nativity! (2009) is a British comedy about a school play.
• The Star (2017) is an animated movie that tells the Nativity story from the point of view of the animals.

Television Shows

The Nativity has also appeared in many TV shows and specials.

• In A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), Linus tells the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke, which includes the Nativity.
• The miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977) starts with the birth of Jesus.
• The Nativity (1978) was a TV movie.
• An episode of the Christian anime series Superbook (1982) shows characters traveling back in time to witness the Nativity.
• The Liverpool Nativity (2007) was a special TV production by BBC Three. It featured music from Liverpool.
• An episode of the TV show House called It's a Wonderful Lie features a patient who got sick from a donkey while playing Mary in a Nativity play.

Classical Music

The Nativity has inspired many beautiful pieces of classical music.

• Heinrich Schütz wrote a Christmas Oratorio in 1664.
• Marc-Antoine Charpentier created many works about Christmas, including a Midnight Mass and several Pastorales de Noël.
• Johann Sebastian Bach composed his famous Christmas Oratorio in 1734.
• Camille Saint-Saëns wrote an Oratorio de Noël (Christmas Oratorio) in 1858.
• Hector Berlioz composed a sacred trilogy called L'Enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ) in 1854.