The Nativity scene has provoked controversy: the ceramic figures were created by high school students in Castelli, Italy, during the 1960s and 1970s. “The life-size ceramic statues hold a cultural heritage not immediately visible to the eye,” writes Francesca Merlo of Vatican News. “It is perhaps this hidden story that has caused the criticism of some onlookers who have reacted negatively to what they perceive as a representation of the birth of Jesus that looks so different.”