Avoiding the traditional emotional distance used to depict this subject, Van Reymerswaele rather presents it as a moving genre scene. Figures and objects are reduced to a minimum. However the Christ Child’s nakedness (his clothes are in the basket) and the white of the cloth around him indicate his divine status, while the red mantle identifies him as Christ as it symbolises his redemptive mission and consequent Passion. The monogram and date are false.