Charles Horton discusses two contrasting, yet intimate portrayals of the birth of a child from a 16th-century prayer book
These illuminated miniatures are the creation of Simon Bening, the last great manuscript illuminator of the Flemish school.
His patrons included some of the most important rulers of Europe, including the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who it is thought commissioned this prayer book with thirty-three miniatures featuring scenes from the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin.
