Saint Joseph stands behind the Virgin who kneels by the Christ Child. The ox & ass are in the stall behind the manger. New Testament (Luke 2: 15-16). The composition derives from Rembrandt's versions of the subject, notably those of 1646 in Munich (Alte Pinakothek) & in the National Gallery. Barent was the younger brother of the painter Carel Fabritius, who had been one of Rembrandt's most talented pupils & who was prematurely killed in the explosion of the municipal gunpowder magazine in Delft in 1654. The Gallery owns two works by Carel: 'A View of Delft, with a Musical Instrument Seller's Stall' & 'A Young Man in a Fur Cap & a Cuirass (Self Portrait?)'. Barent mostly painted religious history scenes, genre subjects & portraits.