This essay argues that the painting's visual language conveys ironic messages about the relationship of the elite group of medical men to the executed criminal. Other Rembrandt works close in time, as well as inherited schemata, assist an interpretation which seeks to balance the strong emphasis placed by W. S. Heckscher and W. Schupbach on Dr. Tulp's contribution to the iconography. The painting is also interpreted within the context of Reformation themes.