Nativities Around the World: Europe/Middle East

Purchased in a wooden shoemaker’s shop in Amsterdam, the figures are carved from the light wood also used to make wooden shoes. The soft colors are achieved using water-based paint. A sticker, “Dutch Wood Carvers Association Holland,” is on the underside of the manger.

This crèche was purchased in an art shop in Moscow. Reportedly it was made by a member of a Baptist church in Kyiv, Ukraine. The artisan’s name is etched into base of Joseph, but it is undecipherable.