A festive exhibition in Basel of more than 100 cribs from the past two centuries would delight Pope Francis as much as us all

As art forms go, the Christmas nativity surely wins the star for popular engagement. Across the world right now town squares and public buildings, churches and homes are adorned with models that depict the events of a night in Bethlehem 2020 years ago. Are they being ignored or passed by, overlooked or avoided?

Indeed they are not: everyone from toddlers to totterers flock to look at them, to ooh and aah over figures of wood or plaster or wax, and to imagine a couple of newlyweds, temporarily homeless, who crept in among the animals and the hay of a stable and brought their firstborn child into the world.

Nativity scenes are almost as old as the nativity itself – more on their contentious history later – but the tradition has this year been given a fillip by Pope Francis, who issued an apostolic letter, Admirabile Signum, which the Vatican translates as “The enchanting image”, in which he described them as encapsulating “a wealth of popular piety”, and said: “We learn from our parents and grandparents to carry on this joyful tradition.”