The Birth of the Virgin (?)

The birth of the Virgin is not actually recorded in the New Testament, but rather in the Apocrypha. According to the protoevangelium of James 5,2 the prophecy of the angel was fulfilled. After nine months Anna gave birth to a girl, she called Mary. Here the event is represented by a pictorial narrative. Anna is shown at the right of the image resting on her four-poster bed, fully clothed under the covers, and propped up by pillows. Two women (one young, one old) offer her refreshments of a drink and a bowl of soup. Another old woman on her left supports herself on the edge of the bed while she sleeps. The group is framed by the gathered green curtain of the bed. On the left a maid in a red dress places the child in a manger. In the foreground two other seated maids are now taking care of the child, one of them has Mary on her lap, lying on a cushion, while the other drinks from a tankard. Finally, on the right a further scene shows three maids around a low table. One of them holds the child, who appears to be wriggling free from her grasp.

[cda 2022]