Next follows the _Birth of St. John_[62] in the chamber of a French home. To the left neighbours come to present their congratulations. Two women prepare the bath and the linen, whilst the new-born infant sits quietly upright upon the Virgin's lap, who gazes down upon him with tender affection. That this figure is intended to represent the Mother of God is indicated by the fact that her nimbus is unusually large. In the Ghirlandajo frescoes of this scene at Santa Maria Novella there is also a figure which appears to be intended for the Virgin Mary; but very few artists besides Fouquet have introduced her into their presentations of this episode. Zacharias is clad in the robes of a lawyer. Beneath the scene are two quadrangles, in the first of which is inscribed the letter D, and within it is a soldier holding a shield, which in turn bears the initials E. C. (_Etienne Chevalier_). These initials occur repeatedly in the frieze running round the page. In the second quadrangle, where should have been the first words of the _Magnificat_, there is painted a lamb and a tasteless wreath of roses, evidently an interpolation introduced by the same hand that separated the text from the miniatures, which we may observe again in no less than nineteen out of the forty miniatures now at Chantilly. This composition of the _Birth of St. John_ exhibits, perhaps more than any of the preceding, the freedom with which Fouquet treats these Biblical scenes. [Illustration: Plate XLVI. Photo. Giraudon. THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. Jean Fouquet. Musée Condé. _To face page 190._] The same free tendency may be observed also in the _Nativity of Christ_ and in the _Adoration of the Magi_. This time and in both these scenes the artist has chosen neither the columns of a Gothic church nor a Roman temple, but remains faithful to tradition and presents the stable of Bethlehem. In the _Nativity_ we may perceive to the right the angel announcing to the shepherds the Birth of Christ. Hard by is a cavern, in which, according to the legend, the shepherds took shelter from a thunderstorm. The Infant Christ is extended upon the Madonna's blue mantle and St. Joseph kneels between the ox and the ass. A humorous note is again introduced by a shepherd playing on the bagpipes. The Magi in the next scene are personified by the French King, Charles VII himself, and his two sons--the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XI, and his younger brother, the Duc de Berry, then a mere boy. The presence of the Royal Guard clad in white and wearing helmets, leaves no doubt as to who the personages were whom Fouquet intended to represent. The fortified castle in the background is the Château de Chinon, whither Charles VII retired during the English occupation of Paris and where he received Joan of Arc. Another illumination worthy of note is the _Betrayal_. The light which pierces the dark shadows and illuminates the scene itself is very remarkably treated.