Visions of Christmas: With Renaissance Triptychs - Tapa dura

This is the story of the Nativity told in the words of the Authorized King James Bible. Early-Renaissance triptychs illustrate crucial scenes from the story. Some of the reproductions reunite the exterior and interior panels of the same triptych for the first time in hundreds of years. The wings of "Robert Campin's "Merode" altarpiece open to reveal a 15th-century Dutch domestic interior where Gabriel seeks the attention of a tranquil Mary, absorbed in her book. The exterior panels of David's Nativity, depicting a peaceful forest landscape, wing back to reveal a tender rendering of the birth of Jesus, while Hugo van der Goes's famous triptych, "The Portinari Altarpiece", represents the Adoration of the Shepherds in a major example of early-Dutch art. Bosch's "Adorations of the Magi" contains picturesque elements, while the master of the Prado's "Rest on the Flight to Egypt" exhibits the style of the artist, bringing the story to a close.