The Birth of Christ

A small panel, made for private prayer. The child is the lamp of the picture: it lights the face of Mary and the small angels at the manger. Far behind there is a second light, the angel over the shepherds' field.

The idea that the newborn child shone so brightly that it outshone every other light comes from the visions of Saint Bridget of Sweden, written down in the fourteenth century. The panel has been cut down and has darkened; it was once larger.