“Cornelius Foreseeing his Christianity”

Artist/Maker
Haidt, John Valentine
Place Made
This painting may have been painted in Europe or England. Bethlehem Pennsylvania
Date Made
1755-1760
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
HOA 24 3/4; WOA 19 3/4
Accession Number
921.1
Description
Painting, oil on canvas, vertical panel arched at top, showing an angel in blue and lavender garb standing on a cloud and gesturing to a mother and child (Mary holding Jesus) and an elderly man , also standing on a cloud. To the right of Mary at her hem are lily stalks draped over a leather bound book. To the left sits Roman Centurion (Cornelius), half-draped, holding two arrows and with his sword, shied and helmet on the ground at his feet. The soldier looks up at the angel. On original poplar stretcher.
History
The most frequently depicted flowers on Moravian dishes are anemones,
which often appear in conjunction with lilies of the valley. Christians have
long associated anemones with Jesus’ sacrifice, believing them to be the
flowers that sprung from the ground as the blood flowed from his
wounds. As the flowers in the foreground of an anonymous Crucifixion
painting from Herrnhut suggest, anemones held special significance for
Moravians, who focused on Christ’s blood and wounds more than other
Protestant sects. w Compelling evidence for the symbolic importance
of anemones in Moravian art can be found in artist John Valentine Haidt’s
Cornelius Forseeing his Christianity. The painting, which was probably
owned by one of the Moravian congregations in North Carolina, depicts
the Roman centurion Cornelius, who is considered to be the first Gentile
converted to Christianity, and Mary holding the Christ child. Below the
hem of Mary’s robe are two white anemones draped over a book that
probably represents the New Testament. In this context, the flowers represent
the death of Christ to come rather than his crucifixion. Aust and
his successors used strikingly similar floral compositions on their slipware
dishes. w The lilies on Moravian slipware may have been visual analogues
for the marriage metaphor that was pervasive in early Moravian
theology. The memoir of single sister Anna Rosina Anders (1727–1803)
describes the final moments of her life, when she “went gently and happy
over into the arms of her beloved Bridegroom.” As a flower that blooms
early in the spring, the lily symbolizes both the advent of Christ and each
believer’s relationship to him. In the rustic mysticism of Jacob Boehme,
who influenced Zinzendorf and other pietist theologians, lilies are also a
symbol of God and the regenerated spirit of man.

(Excerpt from Art in Clay Gallery Guide)

Artist Biography
ARTIST: John Valentine Haidt was a Moravian artist and evangelist, born in Danzig, Germany on October 4, 1700. As the son of a goldsmith, John Valentine learned that trade initially from his father, Andreas Haidt, a goldsmith for Emperor Frederick I. He later attended the Royal Academy in Berlin before traveling and studying painting in Venice, Rome, Paris, and London. When he was forty years of age he joined the Moravian church. In 1754 he immigrated to America, was ordained a minister of the church, and began to preach in Pennsylvania even as he continued to paint. Although Haidt painted portraits and is known to have painted landscapes, his religious paintings are among the earliest of that genre created in the American colonies. Recent research suggests that Haidt taught American born painter, Benjamin West (1738-1820) when he was preaching in Philadelphia in 1754-55. West told a friend that a “Mr. Hide (Haidt), a German, gave him instruction.”

Haidt died in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, January, 18, 1780. In his memoir he wrote, “I hardly need to mention that I have painted, because almost all of the congregations have some of my work, which the dear Savior also let be a blessing to many a heart.”

Credit Line
Old Salem Purchase Fund