1 Here attributed to Rembrandt and studio, The baptism of the eunuch, c. Left: Cover of A Rembrandt invention: A new baptism of the eunuch. The appeal of the scene, Schwartz argues, lies in the opportunities to explore contrasts between landscape and figures, opulence and simplicity and black and white, in combination with a widely appealing message of conversion and redemption. But it was Lastman who established the visualisation that would dominate throughout the seventeenth century. By 1575, it was popular enough to be included in Maarten van Heemskerck’s (1498-1574) printed suite of the acts of the apostles. During the sixteenth century the topic was often invoked to honour patrons named Philip, such as Philip the Good (1396-1467), Philip II (1527-1598) and Philip de Ligne (1533-1583). Following attempts from Rome to forge unions with eastern Christian churches, including that of Ethiopia, the earliest known depiction is in the Bible of Evert Soudenbalch from circa 1465. Schwartz shows that, ignoring the complexities of the Biblical text in Acts, chapter 8, verses 26-39 artists reduced the narrative to the moment of the baptism of the nameless treasurer of the Ethiopian Queen Candace by Philip – one of the seven deacons assigned by the apostles to spread the faith. The text opens with some general but valuable considerations about the baptism of the eunuch as a topic in Dutch art. In circa 15.000 words and 90 figures, he examines its relationship to several prints and one painting after Rembrandt, to conclude that there are, "powerful indications that the painting emerged as an original product of Rembrandt’s studio, designed by the master, and painted under his supervision, perhaps with his participation, in the workshop" (p. This painting is the topic of a little book by Gary Schwartz. The cataloguers Christopher Brown and Christaan Vogelaar attribute the painting to Rembrandt and studio, and date it to c. 1 The display included one formerly unknown work that is now in the collection of Bernard Allien (fig. The combination of a painting by Rembrandt’s teacher Pieter Lastman (1583-1633), with Rembrandt’s own version from 1626 and three works after his design, invited close study of the young artist’s approach to what became one of the most popular scenes from the New Testament in seventeenth-century Dutch art. One of the most insightful displays in the exhibition ‘Young Rembrandt – Rising Star’, held at the Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden (2 November 2019-9 February 2020), thematised Rembrandt’s early versions of the theme of the baptism of the eunuch. Review of: Gary Schwartz, A Rembrandt invention: A new baptism of the eunuch, Leiden, 2020
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