JACOB DE WET (Haarlem 1610 – Cologne 1677)
The Baptism of the Eunuch
signed and dated in the lower left JW v. Wet with the JW conjoined / 1632
oil on panel
23 7/8 x 29 ¼ inches (61.5 x 75.5cm.)
PROVENANCE
Ole Olsen Collection, and thus be descent until 1996
Private Collection, Amsterdam until the present time
Jacob Willemsz. de Wet is known as Jacob de Wet the Elder. He was the son of the bailiff Willem Jansz. de Wet and Marritge Jacobsdr. It has been suggested that he received his training from his grandfather Jan de Wet. His earliest known works date from 1632, the same year our Baptism of the Eunuch was painted. This is also the year he joined the St. Luke’s Guild in Haarlem which then gave him the right to sign works and accept pupils. On May 20, 1635, he married Maria Jochemsdr van Woubrugge. De Wet recorded having 34 pupils between 1638 – 1670, including Job Berckheyde, Adriaen Gael II, Paulus Potter, Jan Vermeer van Haarlem (I), as well as his son Jacob de Wet II. De Wet’s oeuvre focused almost exclusively on subjects from the Old and New Testament as well as mythological usually in landscape settings. His reputation in Haarlem steadily grew, and he was there honored by the guild in 1645 and 1660 as hoofdman, and dean in 1661. Although unconfirmed, his style of the 1630’s suggests he may have been a student of Rembrandt.[1]
De Wet’s prototypes were the basis of a large number of unsigned reproductions as well as variants signed by pupils as well as other artists.[2] This vast output by his workshop and followers has over the years clouded the perception of De Wet’s true abilities. The quality of such a painting as The Baptism of the Eunuch serves as full clarification as to why De Wet was held in such high esteem during his lifetime.
This painting depicts a passage from the Acts of the Apostles (8-26-40) in which the apostle Philip encounters an Ethiopian eunuch on the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. The eunuch, treasurer to Candace, Queen of Ethiopia was returning from Jerusalem where he had gone to worship. Philip saw him seated in his chariot, reading aloud from the writings of the prophet Isaiah, and engaged him in conversation. Invited to ride in the vehicle, Philip explains that the passage from Isaiah foretells the crucifixion of Christ. Upon arriving at a stream, the eunuch asks to be baptized.
In this panel the magnificently robed eunuch has discarded his turban and bent in supplication along the water’s edge to be anointed by Philip. Brilliant sunshine illuminates the act. They are surrounded by members of their retinue backed against a dramatically rocky landscape. Slavery was outlawed within the Dutch republic, and from the sixteenth century on Africans lived and worked in The Netherlands. This story came to be regarded as a model for adult baptism and conversion[3], but further graphically demonstrated the inclusiveness of the Church, and additionally from “the beginning – the African involvement in the new faith that spread throughout the world”. This was an encounter that exemplified “that no apparent obstacle – whether physical defect, race or geographical remoteness” could place a person beyond God’s grace.[4] De Wet’s 1632 portrayal of The Baptism of the Eunuch pays homage to these beliefs.
[1] Biographical information taken from Neil MacLaren, “Jacob de Wet the Elder” in National Gallery Catalogues, The Dutch School 1600 – 1900, volume I, National Gallery Publications Limited, London, 1991, p. 485; Angela Jager, “The workshop of Jacob de Wet (1610 – 1675) and his mass production of history paintings” in Oud Holland, Brill Academia Publishers, 2018, unpaginated: and “Jacob de Wet (I)” on rkd.nl (RKD Explore) website.
[2] Angela Jager, op.cit.
[3] Alan Chong, “The Baptism of the Eunuch”, exhibition catalog National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Albert Cuyp, October 7, 2021 – January 13, 2022, pp. 109, 152.
[4] Dr. Lawrence E. Henry, The Water Fountain, West Bow Press, Bloomington, IN, unpaginated.