A.J. DiAntonio of Malvern was so fascinated by the Nativity scene while he was growing up that he started his own business of building Nativity scenes, writes Milton Quintanilla for Christian Headlines.

Navidad Nativities builds Nativity scenes using collected vintage and contemporary artisan figures.

DiAntonio created an Italian-style scene for Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn, which hosts an annual exhibition of nativities collected from all over the world.

DiAntonio’s scene features Christ’s visitation as part of its busy village scenario. The scene is about 100 square feet and it contains 178 figures made by Tuscan artists.

“I had all the figures on shelves in my apartment,” said DiAntonio. “Like Mr. Rogers and his Neighborhood of Make-Believe, I take things off the shelves, come up with a different little vignette, start working on another one, and eventually see if they all meld together. Somehow, I got lucky.”

The Nativity scene can be seen as part of the “World Nativities” exhibition at Glencairn through Jan. 28.

The Christmas Nativity scene turns 800 years old in 2023 since the first arrangement by St. Francis of Assisi in 1223.

Read more about A.J. DiAntonio and his business, Navidad Nativities, in Christian Headlines.

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