The birth of the Virgin – Walker Art Gallery – Liverpool
The panel, probably originally conceived as a predella panel together with its “twin” showing the Miracle of the Snow (today at the National Trust in Polesden Lacey, Surrey), depicts the Birth of the Virgin; the event happens in an oval frame in fake red and white marble.
The scene is divided into two parts: on the right, in a domestic setting, Saint Anne (the mother of the Virgin) lies in her bed, partially covered by a thick curtain and raised on a sort of pedestal: probably the birth took place a few days ago, as the appearance of Saint Anne is dignified and composed. In the meantime, he servants and the midwives are washing and drying the child, Mary.
On the left a procession of elegantly dressed women head towards the house, probably to visit and bring gifts to the unborn child; behind them, beyond a low wall, the hilly landscape is interspersed by some tree.
The panel dates back to the early 70s of the fifteenth century, and was initially commissioned for the Pucci Chapel in the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata in Florence.
It is preserved at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
