Although it is difficult to reconstruct the altarpiece to which this panel belonged, it was certainly part of a narrative predella that included the depictions of the Adoration of the Magi, Christ Teaching in the Temple, and perhaps a Crucifixion. The artist sets the scene of the holy family in the manger against an animated landscape, presented in dizzying perspective. In the sky above, an angel appears to the shepherds. The delicacy in the handling of paint and attention to detail show Giovanni di Paolo’s talents as a painter of illuminated manuscripts, in addition to large-scale works. The artist reveals the poetry of the scene through such gestures as the Virgin’s flowing mantel, which spills onto the ground to form a blanket for the Christ child, Joseph’s resigned expression, and the peaceful harmony of the ox and the ass, symbolic presences that allude to the old and new orders.
