"La Petite Tombe", the other title of this print, derives from a mistranslation of Gersaints: On the inventory of Clement de Jonghe's possessions established in 1679, the print is listed as "Latombisch plaatjen", which Gersaints interpreted as "the print of the small grave", thinking that the stone slab on which Christ is standing was the grave. Gersaints really should have translated: "the small plate of the grave", which relates to Pieter de la Tombe, a draftsman, businessman, and friend of Rembrandt, for whom the artist probably created the print.

The subject does not - as one might assume - depict a concrete episode in ChristÕs life. Like in the "a hundred guilder print" created only a few years earlier, the artist's goal was to create a simple, classical composition, rather than an interweaving of figures and space. Influenced by the Italian Renaissance, in particular by Raphael's Fresco in the "Stanza della Segnatura", he chose a clearly geometrical arrangement by setting a vertical light beam onto Christ's head and the stone slab as a horizontal white line.

Very fine and early impression with the "rich black sleeve" as desirable for this print. The visual balance between the group of people and the warm afternoon sunlight is exceptionally well accomplished.