This painting reflects Tamar being brought before the religious leaders in condemnation for being pregnant and unmarried. A pyre is being prepared in the background to signify her impending execution upon being found guilty. The artist uses light to focus the viewer on Tamar, who appears calm and resolved as she displays the signet ring and staff of Judah and implicates him as the father of the child. The person in the top left of the background is taunting the accused and most likely cheering for her death, which almost adds an audible component to the painting. It is not clear where the accuser Judah is in this painting, but perhaps he is the man looking over her shoulder, almost pushing her toward her guilty verdict, but beginning to recognize she is carrying his identification markers as the man who impregnated her.