And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

Many Christians set up manger scenes in their homes in the days before Christmas. Our painting likely served as similar purpose when it was commissioned four hundred years ago in Flanders. It shows the moment described by Luke, when Christ has just been born, with Mary and Joseph kneeling before him, as the usual residents of the manger (a donkey and a cow) peer down alongside.

Paintings executed on copper, as this one is, allow for great amount of detail on a small surface. Our artist uses the medium to the fullest, setting the manger against a broad and deep background. Armies appear to be on the march among the fields and forests, oblivious to the birth of Christ; here the artist is contrasting the earthly (Roman) authority outside the manger with Christ’s divine authority. Beyond the armies is a hazy cityscape, perhaps the artist’s conception of what Jerusalem looked like at the time.

We attribute our painting to Lazarus van der Borcht, who was active in the early part of the 17th Century, and recorded as a master in Antwerp’s Guild of St. Luke in 1601. A painting nearly identical to ours was sold at Sotheby’s New York for USD 84,000 (lot 127, 26 Jan 2007).

Provenance: Important private collection Bonn, Rhineland