Nativity with a Portrait of Cardinal Jean Roulin

The dog by him is symbolic of fielity, whilst the whiteness of the veil and face of Mary, the ermine and the dog's fur refers to purity and the red of the robe to Christ's Passion.

The Virgin Mary is shown with far whiter skin than the other people, showing her noble and their common origins.

Two gilded wood details in the top left and top right corners bear the inscriptions "Deum Time" and "Time Deum" (fear God).

It is in the Flemish primitive style:[1] blueish hills in the background, shepherds talking to each other, the size of figures still in hierarchical proportion (the Virgin is the biggest, as shown by the angels leaning over the cradle), despite the advanced sensibilities of the Northern Renaissance.

[2] The fence on which the shepherds lean has stakes with damaged or sharpened points, as in Fra Angelico's 1443 Annunciation.