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This painting is very much in the style of a pieta, a pieta is generally a work that shows Mary the mother of Jesus with Jesus lying dead in her lap. Here the baby jesus is lying in her lap rather than being held in her arms, further the baby Jesus has his eyes shut and is painted with a stillness as though he is dead. Mary is depicted with her eyes shut in an attitude of prayer, she is not joyful as a new mother would be. There is rather a stillness about her as though she is seeing her newborn son dead in her lap.
The painting is a depiction not only of the birth of Jesus but it also looks to the future and the day he would die on the cross and his mother would be sorrowing over his body. One example of a pieta is the one below by Giovanni Bellini called simply Pieta.