Related to Rembrandt's grisaille on paper of circa 1633 in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv.no. 3477). The composition is also related to Rembrandt's etching of the same subject dated 1638 (Bartsch 37) which includes an open door in the upper left corner comparable to that in the present lot, while this is lacking in the Amsterdam grisaille. Bol reused the figure of the bearded old man seated at the right with slight changes in his picture of Moses appointing rulers of the people in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg (A. Blankert, Ferdinand Bol, Doornspijk, 1982, no. 48, pl. 22), for which a preparatory drawing is in the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich. Bol was Rembrandt's pupil circa 1635-40 in Amsterdam and probably made this when he owned his master's grisaille as mentioned by Bruyn, Haak, Levie, Van Thiel and Van de Wetering, op.cit., p.296