In this print, Rembrandt combines life study, close reading of gospel passages, and his mastery of the medium. Various preparatory studies indicate how carefully Rembrandt worked out individual figures and how he finalized the entire composition by the time it was first printed. Wieseman describes the etching as a technical tour de force, incorporating an enormous diversity of styles and techniques used in printmaking. The group of figures at the left side of the print for example, is deftly indicated with a minimum of lightly bitten lines; in contrast, the evocative richness of the blacks and the depth of tone in the right half of the print represents Rembrandt's experimental competition with the newly discovered mezzotint technique
