PSALM LXXXVI (87), f. 50v.
In the upper part of the picture the Hand of God is issuing from heaven and blessing the scene of Christ's Nativity (verse 5) which takes place within a walled enclosure. Outside the walls are the 'gates of Zion' (verse 2) filled with a populace of men, women, and soldiers (verse 4). Below, five men with scrolls and a harp (verses 6-7) gaze up at the scene, as does also another group standing within the portico of a tabernacle at the left. There is also a helmeted soldier at the right of this latter group who may be one of the princes mentioned in verse 6 of the Vulgate text. The infant Christ, cross-nimbed, is being bathed by two midwives assisted by an angel and another attendant (a wingless angel?) who are holding napkins for the Christ-child. The Virgin is reclining on a mattress to the right of the scene, and Joseph is seated on the ground behind her.
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