Angel and Shepherd with Down Syndrome in Flemish Nativity Painting

It was the light of the painting that first drew Dr. Andre Leviats towards it. Radiating from the infant Jesus in a rare, nocturnal nativity scene, it illuminated from below the faces of the dozen figures around the crib.

But as Dr. Levitas approached he noticed something even more striking in the Dutch renaissance piece. The small, angelic figure depicted next to Mary was unmistakable a person with Down syndrome. And the shepherd standing one row back also appeared to have the same distinctive characteristics.

At a major exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, among some of the most documented paintings in the world, Dr. Levitas had made a discovery: it was the earliest clear depiction of Down syndrome painted 3-1/2 centuries before the condition was defined by John Langdon Down in 1866.

What was more, the unknown painter of The Adoration of the Christ Child, circa 1515, did not appear to be making any special point about the condition. The Down syndrome characters were participating in the scene the same way as everyone else.