This is a very important work within Greco's production as it was intended for his own burial chapel in Santo Domingo el Antiguo, Toledo. In 1618, the artist's son did not reach an agreement with the nuns about the rent to be paid for the crypt and Greco's mortal remains were removed to San Torcuato Church, lost at present. The subject originates in Saint Luke's, who narrates how an angel of the Lord stood by the shepherds to bring them the Good News and how the shepherds came to the crib to adore the Child. This passage of Gospel had been already been depicted by Greco before. The figure of the Child becomes a symbolic light focus irradiating its brightness, more or less intense, to the rest of the figures.
Light thus originates arbitrary shapes that break the characters' natural contours.
The brief architectural reference, rare in this kind of Greco's religious works, has been used to open the space backwards into the canvas and to act as a linking point between earth and heaven. The general composition could be inscribed within a rising zigzag strengthenedby the lit areas. The general colouring is warmer than usual in Greco's works in which the painter was deliberately looking for coldness and sourness by way of colours.