Originally the work had a predella, also lost, with the exception of a small panel with a Miracle of Saint Ambrose, now in the Berlin State Museums.

The main scene features a crowd of biblical figures, angels and saints, portrayed in informal positions; most of them are probably portraits of existing people.

As usual, the scene is set in Heaven, but Lippi decided to avoid the outdated gilded background, replacing it with a striped sky which alludes to the seven sectors of the Paradise.

Amongst the figures in the middle can be recognized Mary Magdalene and Saint Eustace (titular of one of the most important altars in the church) with his sons and his wife.

This painting is described at length in lines 344-389 of Robert Browning's poem 'Fra Lippo Lippi', published in 1855 in his collection Men and Women.