The Nativity

The panel depicts the adoration of the infant Christ on the Holy Night. The scene shows the newborn child lying naked in a stone trough, which projects diagonally into the pictorial space. Both the Virgin and Joseph kneel in prayer to the right, while the ox and the ass look on from the left. Above this group a host of angels is represented in a cloud. This intimate scene takes place in a simple architectural setting with a stone floor. The wall behind opens out at the right to reveal a landscape where the annunciation to the shepherds is visible. The same three shepherds are shown again peering over the stone wall.

[cda 2020]