Andrea wished to leave after completing the frescoes of the life of Philip Benizi de Damiani on the opposite side of the atrium.

However, the friar in charge of the frescoes, the sacristan fra Mariano dal Canto delle Macine, insisted that Andrea paint two further lunettes with scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary.

The Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe of the Uffizi includes a late 16th century drawing of the fresco, attributed to Maso da San Friano (n. 6466).

The bed has a similar composition, with the people arranged around it, although del Sarto rotated the elements and added vertical components with the canopy and angels crowded around the scene.

The richness of the poses, often linked to references, the balanced artificiality, the sumptuous clothes, the reduced palette of rare colors such as violets, made the Nativity a key work of the 16th century that was often studied by Mannerist painters.