Peter in a white robe gestures his denial, as two armed guards observe to the left.

It is therefore thought that his treatment of themes such as the Denial derived substantially from prints based on foreign works.

In this case there are two engravings, both based on paintings by the Flemish artist Gerard Seghers, which are implicated in Rembrandt's Denial.

[3] After passing through the hands of several art collectors and dealers in the Netherlands and then France, the painting was sold with 118 other artworks to Catherine II of Russia in 1781.

It remained in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg until it was sold secretly with other works by the government of the Soviet Union.