The subject was taken from the Book of Acts and relates the miraculous liberation of St. Peter from prison. This work depicting the saint visited by an angel while two soldiers are sleeping in the background was first published as a work of the Dutch Caravaggist painter Terbrugghen. While it examplifies this stylistic trend with its strong contrasts between light and shadow, recently some scholars have rejected the attribution to Terbrugghen, assigning this work to an anonymous painter well acquainted with Terbrugghen's style. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)