This painting, along with the Annunciation nearby, once belonged to a multi-panel altarpiece. In the background, shepherds tending to their flock become the first to receive news of Christ’s birth from an angel. In the foreground, two shepherds visit the divine infant, who rests humbly on the ground as the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph kneel in adoration. Three angels wearing liturgical garments foreshadow Christ’s sacrifice and its observance in the Catholic ritual of the Eucharist. This Spanish artist adopted the naturalistic imagery and meticulous technique of compositions by Flemish contemporaries, rendered with precision in translucent layers of tinted oil paint.