The copperplate was in the sale by Pieter de Haan (1767, lot 32) and was sold via Fouquet to Claude-Henri Watelet (1718-1786). It then became part of the set of plates subsequently owned and used for printing Recueils by Pierre-François Basan (1723-1797), Henri-Louis Basan (his nr 1402), Auguste Jean (ca 1809), Veuve Jean, Auguste and Michel Bernard (1846), Alvin-Beaumont (1906) and Robert Lee Humber (1937). It was sold at the Artemis sale in London (1993) and is now in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunsweig (Germany).

Acts of the Apostles (3, verses 1-10)
Peter and John met a lame beggar at the entrance of the temple. When asked for money Peter tells the crippled man that they cannot give him silver nor gold, but that they can heal him in the name of Christ. They indeed perform the miracle.

In his last etching covering a biblical subject, Rembrandt returns to a subject he used thirty years earlier (B 95). That version probably did not meet Rembrandt’s own standards, since he printed only five copies. Yet, in this new effort, the central figures are presented in a very similar way. And in both prints Rembrandt portrays the moment they speak to the beggar, instead of showing the healing itself. The difference with the earlier version is the addition of a large piece of the temple and various on-lookers.

Rembrandt may have been inspired by the 255 prints of Jerusalem by Jacques Callot.
Tümpel suggested that Rembrandt used a print by Philips Galle (New Hollstein 193) after Maarten van Heemskerck as an example.

A drawing in the Albertina (Benesch 854) may have served as prototypes.
According to Landsberger Rembrandt used the description of the classical writer Flavius Josephus for the way the temple is pictured. Rembrandt had a German translation of that book, Jüdische Geschichten (C.Lautenbach 1574) in his possession. Wischnitzer thinks he just looked at the illustration in the book, made by Tobias Stimmer.

There is an anonymous copy (A) in the same direction, inscribed Rembrandt f 1659 (two states, 179 x 214 mm, WB 1).
And an anonymous etching in reverse (B), inscribed Rembrand (177 x 216 mm, WB 2).

The etching is considered as special by Wilson and Singer.

The New Hollstein lists six states, of which only the first two by Rembrandt. Most other authors list four states, often reversing the 3rd and 4th state until Biörklund worked out the correct order. Nowell-Usticke states one trial proof and six states, from his 2nd state there are later impressions by Watelet, P.Basan, Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
In the 1st state (NH, WB, R299/NU trial proof a) the cloak around Peter’s neck sags only slightly, the waistline beneath his right arm is concave (as if wearing a corset, BB). The pavement in the foreground is lightly shaded by horizontals and right-to-left diagonals only.
In the 2nd state (NH, WB, R300/NU 1st state) the upper part of the cloak of Peter falls in a deeper curve. The waistline is straightened and Peter’s neck is lowered to the level of his right elbow there is a long V-shaped scratch on the 2nd tree to the right of the building.
In the 3rd state (NH, WB, R302/NU 2nd) the cross-hatchings on the arch above left is extended to the capital of the column. The pavement in the right foreground had been heavily reworked and darkened with drypoint. There are accidental scratches in the sky. According to Hinterding this state is almost certainly posthumous, based on the use of a rocker in the lower right corner.
In the 4th state (NH only) the accidental scratches are burnished away (but still vaguely visible). The right foreground is extensively reworked with the rocker.
In the 5th state (NH/4th state WB final, R301, NU P. Basan, Basan) the sky has been burnished clean. Some of the shadows in the foreground are reworked with fine cross-hatching. There is intensive use of the rocker.
In the 6th state (NH/5th state NU Jean, Bernard) the entire plate is reworked. The lightly shaded spot in the crowd in the upper left corner is covered with cross-hatching.
In the 6th state (NU Beaumont) there is new work in the dark shadows in the upper right corner.

Of the 1st state there are only two impressions, in the Rijksmuseum and in the British Museum and a counterproof, also in the British Museum.
Many early impressions of the 2nd state are on Japanese paper. There are at least four series of the 2nd state printed on western paper.
Some impressions of the 5th state are on greenish paper.

The etching appears in the Recueil de Basan, impressions fair (NU).
B&W 54 – Recueil de Basan – Page 32                   NH: 5^th state of VI/WB: 4^th and final state.
A good impression.

B&W 206 – Recueil de Beaumont –  Sheet 33      NH: 6^th and final state/WB: 4^th and final state.
A dark impression, the robe of St. Peter completely black.

In the 2nd state: Foolscap with seven-pointed collar (c. 1659, 4 ed.).
In the 4th state: Strasbourg lily (2 ed.) and various later ones (3 ed).

H 301, BB 59-A, G 94, M 254, Mz 239, RA 299-302, Cl 97, W 98, Bl 66, Du 97, CD 258, s 50.
Rembrandt creates Rembrandt, p. 86-87; Hinterding 2008, p. 207-208;

New Hollstein: 2nd state of VI/White-Boon: 2nd state of IV
A very good, contemporary impression on laid paper. Showing considerable burr on the figures in the foreground, the columns, the canopy and the crowd in the background. A thin strip of supporting Japanese paper verso and a minor central vertical crease.
Sheet 189 x 227/226, margins of 4 mm all around (+11%).
No watermark, horizontal chain lines at approx. 24 mm.

In the collection of the Austrian collector Prince Charles de Ligne (1759-1792, Vienna, Lugt 592). It was probably in the posthumous sale of his collection with Stöckl in Vienna in April 1793, where 13.500 prints owned by the Prince were sold.

Rembrandt in Zwart-Wit, Stedelijk Museum Zutphen, Stadsmuseum Harderwijk, November 2013-August 2015;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;