The stoning of St Stephen.

During his lifetime, Rembrandt's extraordinary skills as a printmaker were the main source of his international fame. Unlike his oil paintings, prints travelled light and were relatively cheap. For this reason, they soon became very popular with collectors not only within, but also beyond the borders of the Netherlands. It also explains why, in later centuries, they were affordable for Bishop Ditlev Monrad and Wellington collector and philanthropist Sir John Ilott. Te Papa has two impressions of this etching in its collection, this (superior) one from the first state, presented to the National Gallery of Art by Ilott, and another presented to the Colonial Museum by Monrad in 1869 (1869-0001-429).

Rembrandt had chosen the martyrdom of St Stephen as the subject of his first recorded painting, completed in 1625 at the age of 19 (now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon). Some ten years later, he reprises the theme in this dramatic etched portrayal of the saint's murder by stoning. According to the Acts of the Apostles from the Bible, Stephen was a disciple of Jesus and deacon in the early Christian church who was assigned to distribute food and charity to widows and needy members of the community. His teachings espoused Jesus as saviour and his arguments against traditional Jewish beliefs offended the authorities of certain synagogues, who falsely accused him of preaching against the Temple (blasphemy) and sentenced him to death. Considered the first martyr of Christianity, Stephen is compassionate to the end, imploring God to forgive his murderers of their sins.

Challenging traditional forms of historical narrative, Rembrandt interpreted the events of that day through visual clues and fragmented narratives, while incorporating images of modern-day political martyrdom as a powerful reminder of the ongoing cost of freedom: Stephen's killers could pass for thugs you'd wouldn't want to encounter in Amsterdam alleyways or on canalboats.