This passage called for a complex image with many characters in a variety of poses and motions, and the diversity and challenge attracted Tintoretto.

The subsequent history of the original painting is unclear, but it is perhaps the one that is recorded as being part of the collection of King Charles I of England.

[3] There is also a version at the Shipley Art Gallery that has the same overall design as the Prado painting, but varies in many small details.

It was moved from the church by 1648, and next heard of when it was put up for auction on 2 June 1814 at Phillips in London by Alexis Delahante, a French dealer and entrepreneur who was returning to live in Paris.

The painting was subsequently given to the Church, now Cathedral, of St Nicholas, Newcastle upon Tyne, where it was hung in July 1818.

Following its authentication in 1976 by Rodolfo Palluchini, an expert in Tintoretto's work, it was sent to London for cleaning and restoration, and offered on loan to Tyne and Wear Museums in 1980, when it was hung in the Shipley Art Gallery.

The painting was purchased from the Chapter of the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas, Newcastle, for Tyne and Wear Museums in 1986.

Shipley Art Gallery purchased it in 1987 adding one of the finest Venetian pictures in the country to its collection.'

[11] As it was common for private collectors to request copies of a noted public work, there is also a version of this painting in Toronto.

With the participation of schools, church groups, and others the money was raised in less than a year and the painting was purchased for the permanent collection.

[14] Main pigments in this painting are ultramarine, red lakes (kermes, madder and lac), malachite and azurite.