The subject comes from the Acts of the Apostles (12: 6-7): ‘the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands.’ The subject was popular because it suggests the idea of the soul of man liberated from the prison of the tomb, especially when Peter is seen led up from out of a dark vault. This example can be dated to the 1620s on stylistic grounds and would therefore have been painted in England.