In The Mystic Nativity, the angels and men celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Locals joyfully embrace one another, while twelve angels dance from the heavens and the others join in the Shepherds' festivities of praise.  In the center resides the Holy Family, which Botticelli illustrates as slightly larger than the surrounding figures to emphasize the significance of this holy day. Like many of Botticelli's other works, the painting encompasses emotion in the characters actions, perspective, and liveliness in the array of colors as demonstrated in the landscape and in their clothing. Moreover, the artist utilizes the proportions of the scene to create depth and harmony through its symmetry. 

However, unlike Primavera or Birth of Venus, which are acknowledged for their elegance and sharpness, this work has been renown for its mysterious symbolism. As Botticelli becomes far more independent from the Medici family, the talented painter takes a liking to friar Girolamo Savonarola. Under the sway of Savonarola, who calls for Christian renewal and reformation of the Italian government in preparation for a "biblical flood" when he declares Florence the New Jerusalem, Botticelli's character darkens. More than anything, Botticelli essentially has a religious freak-out, and emulates that obsession in the text at the top of the painting. 

The inscription translates as: "This picture, at the end of the year 1500, in the troubles of Italy, I Alessandro, in the half-time after the time, painted, according to the eleventh chapter of Saint John, in the second woe of the Apocalypse, during the release of the devil for three-and-a-half years; then he shall be bound in the twelfth chatter and we shall see him buried as in this picture".

Pretty intense, huh? 

As religious and political upheavals overflow in Florence,  Botticelli assembles this piece of work to combine Christ's birth with the ideas of Christ's Millennium, as promised in the Book of Revelation. Botticelli juxtaposes the spirit of this painting to his disclaimer in an attempt to portray the preachings of his mentor and fight the oppression of his religious beliefs after the friar's execution. Despite Botticelli's outreaches to revitalize Savonarola's prophecies, The Mystic Nativity initially prevails the end of Botticelli's career as an outstanding artist. After 1500, Botticelli becomes less invested in painting and eventually dies, a decrepit, worn-down man in 1515.