The Friendly Beasts of the Nativity Scene

December 2021
by Sandra Miesel

The ox and the ass have always watched over the manger. They were there before crèche sets or even images of Mary or St. Joseph or the shepherds or the angels or the Magi. The earliest surviving Christian art that depicts the Nativity are sarcophagus carvings from the late fourth-century show just the two beasts adoring the tightly swaddled Christchild. They are present as symbols, not illustrations, for the New Testament does not mention them.

At the simplest level the animals underscore the God-Man’s humility by being born in a stable. But early theologians Origen, St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine connected them with two messianic texts from the Old Testament: “The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master’s crib but Israel hath not known me, and my people have not understood” (Isaiah 1:3) and “in the midst of the two beasts wilt thou be known” (Hebrew and Septuagint version of Habbakuk 3:2). The ox and the ass stand for the two halves of humanity: Jew and Gentile. The “clean” ox yoked to the Mosaic Law and the “unclean” ass burdened with idolatry both need the salvation brought by Christ. Traditionally, the ox is more attentive than the ass because the Jews were expecting their Messiah.

Mary, St. Joseph and other figures were added over the next few centuries to round out the Nativity scene. By medieval times, the beasts have become quite personable, even seeming to smile at Jesus as they warm him with their breath. But their symbolic role persists. For example, they eat straw from the manger or even munch on the Infant’s clothes to point toward the Eucharistic significance of Jesus lying in a feed trough. God now clothed in human flesh will become living Bread.

Although countless artists have enhanced mankind’s picture of Our Lord’s birth, the ox and the ass still keep watch. Through them, all creatures welcome their Creator.