Stable or Cave
St. Luke explains that Mary "gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7). The passage does not mention a "stable" as we know it today, as historically animals were kept in a cave. For much of Church history depictions of the birth of Jesus highlighted a cave and so some Nativity scenes keep that tradition. However, Christian artists eventually began placing the birth of Jesus into a modern context and the "stable" was born, becoming a central part of any Nativity scene.
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