John Henry Amshewitz began experimenting with etching in 1924 and completely abandoned the medium after 1935, having produced a total of twenty plates, Rembrandtesque in style and spirit, but also reflecting his sardonic sense of humour. ‘The Wedding’ is based on a Jewish myth that an unwed woman cannot enter Heaven. Amshewitz's widow described the scene in her memoirs: the bride is 'the ugly, masculine-looking, crippled woman lying on her death-bed. Her brother, in his anxiety for her celestial welfare, has bribed an old passer-by to marry her and, together with an aged witness, they are standing at the bedside. The rabbi, holding a goblet of wine, has performed part of the ceremony, but as the ring is being placed on her finger, she drops back.