Painting decoration by Jan Henrik Rosen
This scene, which grew out of sentimental and personalistic currents in theology, is depicted in a hierarchical manner - behold, the axis of the composition shows Mary, seated on an invisible throne, spreading her arms in a gesture of orant, with the Child resting on her lap. She is surrounded on either side by pairs of angels flanked by shepherds, including St Joseph on the right. The contrast between Mary, portrayed as a medieval Maesta, and the figures of the shepherds, shown in motion from different angles, is striking in the incongruity of the two worlds. The boundary between the two is also marked by the carpet beneath Our Lady's feet spread over the meadow where the shepherds are depicted. The two orders are united only by the antinaturalistic maroon background.

The vivid colours and Mary's exquisite robe, the multi-coloured carpet, the snow-white angels separating the central group from the shepherds clad in sheepskins and simple tunics, thus clearly delineate two zones - the sacred in the centre and the profane on the sides, which is also eloquently emphasised by the halos above the central group. The hieratic composition and abstract colours make this representation unreal, but if we look at the figures, we can see their realistic features, not only in the figures of the shepherds, but also in Mary - a young, beautiful girl - and even the Child, who is an infant lying on her knees.

The scene is therefore - like most mystical visions - a mixture of fantasy and reality, showing God through the image of man, touching the depths of the mystery of the incarnation, or Christmas. This Mystery, depicted in the sacred zone, is adored by the shepherds; however, only two of them enter the sacred place, and on their knees, the others only move towards it. This procession also includes the artist, who has portrayed himself as a shepherd with a candle, and has hidden a portrait of his father, the painter Jan Rosen, in the face of the father of the holy family. The artist has thus portrayed his very personal interpretation of Christmas, which, being an eternal reality, meets his world and through this can also meet our everyday life.