A newborn child lies on a blue cloak in the foreground, his arms raised and his body illuminated against the pale ground. Beside him, a woman in a long blue gown and veil kneels in prayer, her hands steepled and her gaze serene, with pearls in her hair and necklace. To the right, a man in a pink robe, black jacket, and blue hat sits cross-legged on a white saddle, turning to speak to two shepherds who stand behind him.

One shepherd, in a brown garment and red cap, looks upward while the other gestures heavenward with his right hand, both standing near an ox and an ass under a ruined stone stable with a sloping wooden roof. A black and white bird perches on the roof above the angels, while a red-faced goldfinch sits on a shrub at the lower left, surrounded by sparse plants and tufts of grass. Light falls evenly across the scene, highlighting the delicate modelling of faces and drapery, and the paint surface shows fine, precise brushwork especially in the folds of garments and the texture of stone and wood. The composition is carefully balanced, with the Holy Family and angels forming a gentle arc in the foreground, and the stable and landscape anchoring the scene.

The National Gallery notes that the work was once thought unfinished, but is now believed to have suffered from over-restoration in the past. The Nativity is an example of Early Renaissance religious art, combining classical references, careful observation of nature, and a harmonious arrangement of figures.