In preparation for her journey into the desert, Mary buys three loaves of bread. The baker is shown seated behind his market bench, which is piled with loaves. Mary hands him three coins in payment. The prominent crosses on the coins are not christological symbols (as someone suggested in relation to various depictions in the windows ar Chartres) but were simply a practical feature of most specie in the days before the introduction of small denominations, making it easier to divide a coin into halves or quarters.