[2] The work takes its name from a convent in Monforte de Lemos, in northern Spain, where it is presumed (from the dates of copies made in Flanders) to have arrived in the early 16th century; before that its history is unknown.

The purchase caused a dispute between Friedländer, whose attribution to the then little understood van der Goes was based on similarities to his Portinari Altarpiece in Florence, and the leading art historian Heinrich Wölfflin.

The former, who has a hand on his chest while another is catching the gift, wears a crown above a red velvet beret, and has a fur-lined hood which partially hides a sword hilt.

Symbolic details scattered in the picture include an iris flower at left and a small still life with a bowl, a pot, a wooden spoon and a piece of bread in a wall niche.

Another portion of landscape is in the middle part, with two shepherds pointing at something, an aged woman and a child: the latter characters could be a reference to St. Elizabeth and the young St. John the Baptist visiting Jesus.