The copperplate may have been in the sale by Clement de Jonghe (1679, as 67 Zacharias met kind op de armen) but has been lost since and is probably not anymore in existence.

Luke 2: 22-38 describes how the new-born Child, following the old Jewish tradition, is presented to the Elders in the temple, where Simeon and Hannah have been waiting for years. Simeon recognizes the Child as the Redeemer and praises him.

Apart from two other etchings (B 49 and B 51) Rembrandt made several paintings and drawings of the same subject, like one painting in the Kunsthalle in Hamburg (Corpus A12, Bredius 535) and another in the Mauritshuis in The Hague (Corpus A34, Bredius 543). There are drawings in the Amsterdams Historisch Museum (Benesch 486) and in the Rembrandthuis (Benesch 373). Another drawing in reverse, dated about 1657/58 and now in the Boymans van Beuningen (Benesch 1032) is no longer considered to be by Rembrandt. It is often attributed to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout. Münz also points at a study of the prophetess Hannah, now in Dresden (HdG 316). Hind points at the similarity of some of the people to those in the Hundred Guilder Print (B 74). In 1654 Rembrandt made four prints very similar in style and size, B83, B86, B87 and this one. They may well have been meant as a series about important moments of the life and death of Christ.

New Hollstein lists two copies in reverse. Copy A is by Costantino Cumano (208 x 158 mm, WB 1). Copy B is by John Burnet (98 x 75 mm). The Basan catalogue for the Mariette sale in 1775 lists a copy by John Friedrich Bause (not traced by NHD) .

The etching is considered as special by Seidlitz, Coppier, Dutuit and Singer

All authors list one state only. Only Middleton mentions a 2nd state with work on the virgin’s face. This has not been confirmed by other authors.

Early impressions are very strong and dark, with burr on the robe of the seated man, all printed on Japanese paper. In later impressions the burr has vanished. Rembrandt intentionally varied the inking, creating an variation in platetone, making each print a more or less unique one. In the Victoria & Albert Museum there is an unusual print with the top of the plate seemingly scraped down.

Arms of Amsterdam (3 ed.); Arms of Amsterdam with PB; Foolscap with seven-pointed collar (2 ed.).

H 279, BB 57-1, G 50, M 243, Mz 240, RA 168, Cl 54, W 55, Bl 23, Du 55, CD 236, S17.
Rembrandts passie, p. 72-74; Stechow, Print Collections Quarterly, 1940 (xxvii), p. 364; Hinterding 2008, p. 113ff; Late Rembrandt p. 179-180;