The Christmas story in pictures

The Annunciation by Zanobi Strozzi (c1440-5). Strozzi's painting, from an altarpiece in San Salvatore al Monte in Florence, shows the Virgin Mary seated at prayer in her bed chamber. The artist portrays the moment when the Archangel Gabriel announces to a slightly startled Mary that she will bear the Son of God Photograph: © The National Gallery, London

The Mystic Nativity by Sandro Botticelli (1500). The painting shows angels and men celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. The Virgin Mary kneels in adoration before her infant son, watched by the ox and the ass at the manger, while Mary's husband, Joseph, sleeps nearby. Botticelli's painting, probably made for a Florentine patron, has long been called the 'Mystic Nativity' because of its mysterious symbolism Photograph: © The National Gallery, London

The Adoration of the Shepherds by the Le Nain brothers. The painting shows the shepherds, represented by the bare-footed old peasant and two boys behind, adoring the Christ child. The mood in the painting is one of unusual calm and stillness, focused upon the infant lying on the straw Photograph: © The National Gallery, London

The Adoration of the Kings by Jan Gossaert (1510-15). The painting shows the arrival of the three kings to bestow gifts on the Christ child. The dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, descends to the infant from the brilliant star in the sky, and angels approach from a great distance through a series of arches, giving the scene a spectacular sense of space and depth Photograph: © The National Gallery, London

The Virgin Adoring the Child with Saint Joseph by Fra Bartolommeo (before 1511). The painting shows a quiet Nativity scene without the presence of shepherds and kings. The painter has included an unusual detail showing painters at work frescoing the wall above the archway in the background. The infant Saint John the Baptist appears in the middle distance Photograph: © The National Gallery, London

The Flight into Egypt (c1515) by the Master of 1518. Mary, Joseph and Jesus are shown travelling to Egypt to escape King Herod's Massacre of the Innocents. The miracles of the corn and of the statue (legends associated with the Flight into Egypt) are shown in the background Photograph: © The National Gallery, London

The Massacre of the Innocents by Gerolamo Mocetto (c1500-25). The final episode in the Christmas story depicts the harrowing slaughter of male children in Bethlehem on the orders of King Herod. When the king learned of a newborn 'King of the Jews' he sought to kill the infant Jesus. After an angel appeared to Joseph, the family fled to Egypt and escaped the infanticide Photograph: © The National Gallery, London