This is the second-largest known painting by Bruegel (after [url=https://www.wikiart.org/en/pieter-bruegel-the-elder/the-wine-of-saint-martin-s-day-1568]The Wine of Saint Martin's Day[/url]). For Bruegel the composition is unusually traditional. Perhaps because he was treating such a solemn religious event, he adopted a well-known scheme. Christ's insignificance among the crowds is a familiar device of mannerist painting, as is the artificial placing of Mary and her companions in a rocky foreground, which is deliberately distanced from the dramatic events taking place behind them.