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Regional variants on the standard nativity scene are many.
The putz of Pennsylvania Dutch Americans evolved into elaborate decorative Christmas villages in the twentieth century.
In Colombia, the pesebre may feature a town and its surrounding countryside with shepherds and animals.
Mary and Joseph are often depicted as rural Boyacá people with Mary clad in a countrywoman's shawl and fedora hat, and Joseph garbed in a poncho.
Other figures in the scene may include angels, shepherds, and various animals.
The figures may be made of any material, The nativity scene may not accurately reflect gospel events.
A donkey and an ox are typically depicted in the scene, as well as the Magi and their camels, described in the Gospel of Matthew.
Several cultures add other characters and objects that may be Biblical or not.
While the term "nativity scene" may be used of any representation of the very common subject of the Nativity of Jesus in art, it has a more specialized sense referring to seasonal displays, either using model figures in a setting or enactments called "living nativity scenes" (tableau vivant) in which real humans and animals participate.
Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first live nativity scene in 1223, intending thereby to cultivate the worship of Christ, having been inspired by his recent visit to the Holy Land where he had been shown Jesus's traditional birthplace.
The scene's popularity inspired communities throughout Catholic countries to stage similar pantomimes.
This view features a classic Capitol Reef butte, and an odd, decaying structure on the riverbank which many people have emailed and asked about.
The structure as viewed here is a cross section of old riverbank reinforcement, or rip rap, probably dating from the 1970s. Other panoramas on this site from Capitol Reef include this panorama of a red sandstone gulch a short distance to the west.