The Bible story of the birth of Moses (Exodus 2, 5-6) is set in a landscape with trees and architecture. The Pharaoh's daughter and her ladies in waiting pull a basket out of the Nile. It is the one in which the prophet was placed by his mother in order to save him from the killing of male Hebrew children ordered by the Pharaoh.

The composition displays this artists' qualities: the subject is only a pretext under which to enjoy depicting the ideal, serene Roman countryside.

This work was painted for Felipe IV (1605-1665) and was to be hung in the Buen Retiro Palace. It is listed as number 47 of the Liber Veritatis, where it is inscribed as “quadro per il Re di Spagna” (“Painting for the King of Spain”). It is a companion to The Archangel Raphael and Tobias (P2255) The Burial of Sainte Saraphia (P2252) and Landscape with the Embarkation of Saint Paula Romana at Ostia (P2254), which are also in the Prado Museum Collection.