(Amsterdam 1587–1630 The Hague)
Landscape featuring the Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch by Philip the Evangelist (Acts 8: 26–39), vmonogrammed lower left: EVF,
oil on panel, 55 x 82 cm, framed

Provenance:
Coll. M. C. G. Fineman, Stockholm;
Coll. Baron Geijerstam, Ribbingsfors Castle, Sweden

Literature:
O. Granberg, Trésors d’Art en Suède, I, 1911, p. 50;
A. Pigler, Barockthemen, vol. I, Berlin/Budapest, 1956, p. 382

Esaias van de Velde painted not only landscapes, but also genre pictures and military scenes. Initially he was under the influence of Roelandt Savery and Jan van de Velde. The present painting, which resulted from a collaboration with the painter Reyer Claesz. Suycker (1590–1653/55), who painted the figural staffage. This work can be dated to the late 1620s and is comparable to depictions of the same subject by Pieter Lastman and Rembrandt. For the figures, compare Van de Velde’s Landscape with Horsemen (1623) in the City Art Gallery, Manchester. Esaias van de Velde had treated the subject of the present composition as early as 1618 (cf. G. Keyes and J. G. Briels, Esaias van de Velde, 1984, cat. no. 10). Many Christians of Africa and Southern Arabia consider the scene represented here as the moment marking the foundation their churches.