[3] The painting was purchased by the Wilstadt Collection in Philadelphia and is now in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), Tanner's Alma Mater in the United States.

[8] By 1908, when Tanner held his "first major solo exhibition" in the United States (the first after having become famous), he was known for his religious artwork.

[9][10] The exhibition featured a long list of religious subjects, 33 paintings including:[11][10] Abraham’s Oak, Behold, the Bridegroom Cometh, Christ and Nicodemus, Christ at the Home of Mary and Martha, Christ on the Road to Bethany, Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, Death of Judas, The Disciples See Christ Walking on the Water, Escape of Paul, Flight into Egypt, The Good Shepherd, He Vanished Out of Their Sight, Head of Old Jew, Hebron, The Hiding of Moses, Hills near Jerusalem, Jerusalem Types (4 under this name), Judas Covenanting with the High Priests, Mary, Mary Pondered All These Things in Her Heart, Moonlight—Hebron, Moses and the Burning Bush, Nicodemus, Night (After the Denial by Peter), Night of the Nativity, On the Road to Emmaus, Return of the Holy Women, Two Disciples at the Tomb, The Wise Men.

Missing from the exhibition were famous works whose museums would not release them: The Annunciation, The Resurrection of Lazarus and The Pilgrims of Emmaus.

[12] A newspaper commented in 1909 that Tanner found the daylight in the Middle East harsh and chose to paint at night.

[15] The sky is lit with twilight (in which the Sun's rays come from below the horizon and are filtered through the atmosphere, casting blueish light).

Moonlight is present, casting distinct shadows and warmer green-yellow light on the rooftop, distant buildings and trees.

[13] In the final painting, the effect was more subtle, the moonlight reflecting on the cloth over Christ's head and glowing on his chest, the firelight lighting his face.

[22] Rather than focus on race when painting Jesus, Tanner created a "cosmopolitan" Christ, a "universal" figure meant to be viewed religiously rather than in a racial sense.

[26] Tanner (like other Orientalists) catalogued the way people in the Middle East looked, the varieties of racial and ethnicities and painted with these.