The Baptism of the Eunuch

Rembrandt van Rijn (attributed to) 1606 - 1669

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Rembrandt. The drawing shows a group of figures in a natural landscape and a man on a horse in the upper left of the composition. In the centre foreground is a man with a beard facing towards the right with his head bowed. In front of the man is another figure, kneeling and facing to the left. There are bushes in the right middle ground and there is a figure walking up a hillside in the right background. The man on the horse to the left is facing towards the left, and behind the horse is the suggestion of a cart pulled by two horses traveling in the opposite direction. Another figure is standing at the left edge of the composition. Text from the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "No. 28 REMBRANDT (b. 1606, d. 1669) THE BAPTISM OF THE EUNUCH Collection of Mr. Edward Holland. Pen and bistre, and slight bistre wash. 19.2 x 25.7 cm. (7 9/16 x 10 1/16 in.) The drawing is closely related to the etching of 1641, and is almost certainly a study made in that connexion [sic]. It is an excellent example, thoroughly characteristic of the master's draughtsmanship at this period, and has all the intensity and concentration of feeling that distinguishes his authentic work. The treatment of the subject was very considerably altered and developed in the etching, but the main elements of the accidental parts of the design are already present. The attitude of the eunuch is almost identical in both, but Phillip is here turned more towards the r. than in the plate. The mounted archer appears beyond a bank on the l. just reigning in his horse as it descends a slope from the r. Behind the archer, a two-horsed chariot is lightly indicated. The servant, who stands farther from the central group than in the etching, and a rider disappearing up the road on the r., make up the remaining figures. In the background is the same precipitous hill that recurs in the etching and in many other compositions of this period. A. M. HIND."