Border with the Circumcision of Isaac

Prefiguring the New Testament scene of Christ's circumcision on the facing page, the border of this page presents Isaac's circumcision as recounted in the Old Testament. His father Abraham and two midwives lean over the newborn Isaac while Isaac's mother Sarah, who had been childless until God intervened in her old age, rests in bed. At the top right, a panel set within sculptural tracery names the source, the book of Genesis. The smoke pouring from the chimney just below marks the transition between the cozy bedroom and the outdoors.

The scene's spatial sophistication--combining both interior and exterior in one view--was one of the hallmarks of Flemish painting of the 1400s and the 1500s.