[1] This painting was created around 1643 at the request of Jacques Tubeuf, superintendent of finances, to decorate the altar of his own chapel in the Oratory church in Paris.

The Nativity occupied a central place in the chapel, flanked by paintings of the Visitation (now in the Seattle Art Museum ), Joseph's Dream (probably lost), and at the top, the Assumption of Mary (now in the Musée Thomas-Henry in Cherbourg).

Below, Mary and Joseph, accompanied by the ox and the donkey, barely visible, are in adoration before the Child Jesus, swaddled as he is described in the Gospel of Luke.

In the foreground, we can see a gourd and a walking stick which remind us that the Nativity is just a stage in the Sacred Family's journey, coming to be counted in Bethlehem.

[4] Lorenzo Pericolo notes that Champaigne adopts, in his view, an outdated approach in the treatment of the nativity, dating back to the Middle Ages, by not representing the kings nor the shepherds who came to adore Jesus.