Another milestone: The final day open to the public is 28 March 2024, 10 am–9 pm.

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Blommendael, Reyer Jacobsz. van
The Baptism of the Ethiopian Chamberlain
around 1665

According to the Book of Acts, Philip the Evangelist met the chamberlain of the Queen of Ethiopia on the road from Jerusalem and baptised him into the Christian faith. Reyer van Blommendael could have modelled the chamberlain and his servant on Black people he observed in Haarlem or Amsterdam. A tragic component of Dutch global trade was the transportation of enslaved Africans to work in colonies in Brazil and the East Indies. Some Africans made their way to Holland in the service of merchant families. Once in the Dutch Republic, they lived as free citizens.

 
Blommendael, Reyer Jacobsz. van
Amsterdam, Netherlands 1628–Haarlem, Netherlands 1675
The Baptism of the Ethiopian Chamberlain
around 1665
Oil on canvas
104.1 x 118.1 cm
Gift of Alfred and Isabel Bader, 2013
56-003.01

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