 The nativity scene may not accurately reflect gospel events . With no basis in the gospels , for example , the shepherds , the Magi , and the ox and ass may be displayed together at the manger . Some traditions bring other scriptural characters to the nativity scene such as Adam and Eve and the serpent , Noah and his animals , the twelve sons of Jacob , the twelve prophets and the twelve apostles . Mundane activities such as Mary washing diapers in the River Jordan , or a dove descending on the newborn infant may be depicted . The art form can be traced back to eighteenth @-@ century Naples , Italy . Neapolitan nativity scenes do not represent Palestine at the time of Jesus but the life of the Naples of 1700 , during the Bourbon period . Families competed with each other to produce the most elegant and elaborate scenes and so , next to the Child Jesus , to the Holy Family and the shepherds , were placed ladies and gentlemen of the nobility , representatives of the bourgeoisie of the time , vendors with their banks and miniatures of cheese , bread , sheep , pigs , ducks or grape , and typical figures of the time like gypsy predicting the future , people playing cards , housewives doing shopping , dogs , cats and chickens . 
