Robert Campin was a leading figure in the city of Tournai during the early fifteenth century and scholars now generally agree that he is the artist known as the Master of Flémalle. This representation of The Nativity is innovative in that it includes three different events in one scene: the Mother and Child in the barn, the legend of the midwives, and the adoration of the shepherds. In a dilapidated wooden stable with a thatched roof, May kneels and looks lovingly down at the child at her feet shimmering with light. Joseph is portrayed as an old man in a red robe genuflecting with a candle in one hand while the other protects the flame. According to an apocryphal account, Joseph became worried at one point and sent for two midwives, who are the figures with headdresses in the right foreground. The three shepherds observe the holy scene through the open stable door with expressions of awe. Light is an important emblem in this work and the candle Joseph holds as well as the rising sun symbolize the redemption and hope brought about by the miraculous birth of the Savior. The bulky figures with their twisting, heavy, and colorful drapery, some with their backs turned, are typical features of Campin’s works as is the meticulous attention given to minute details. This is especially evident in the amazingly detailed landscape that extends behind the stable scene, which includes figures walking along a path, a fortified city, a castle, a lake, and jagged mountain peaks. Campin’s artistic legacy is manifested in the works of his apprentices, the most famous of which is Rogier van der Weyden. ; 34.3 x 27.6 in