page_title: Cornelius the Centurion
section_title: Significance
hierarchical_section_title: Cornelius the Centurion / Significance
caption_attribution_description: English: A dramatic play of light and shadow can add an emotional charge to the depiction of an event. This was the great lesson that Eeckhout absorbed from his teacher Rembrandt van Rijn in the late 1630s and was still using in 1664, when he signed and dated this painting. This is especially effective for representing contact between the human and the divine-here, the appearance of an angel to the Roman centurion Cornelius (Acts of the Apostles). The angel tells him to seek out St. Peter, who will then preach to him about Christ. Eeckhout also adopted Rembrandt's use of details to engage the viewer, such as the centurion's gestures of submission to greater authority-arms crossed on the chest and his officer's ceremonial war axe laid on the ground. The cistern at the left foreshadows Cornelius's baptism by St. Peter.
context_page_description: Cornelius was a Roman centurion who is considered by Christians to be the first Gentile to convert to the faith, as related in Acts of the Apostles. The baptism of Cornelius is an important event in the history of the early Christian church.
context_section_description: Cornelius was one of the first Gentiles converted to Christianity. 
  The baptism of Cornelius is an important event in the history of the early Christian church, along with the conversion and baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch. The Christian church was first formed around the original disciples and followers of Jesus, all of whom, including Jesus himself, were Jewish. All males in that community were circumcised and observed the Law of Moses. The reception of Cornelius sparked a debate among the leaders of the new community of followers of Jesus, culminating in the decision to allow Gentiles to become Christians without conforming to Jewish requirements for circumcision, as recounted in Acts 15.
  Certain traditions hold Cornelius as becoming either the first bishop of Caesarea, or the bishop of Scepsis in Mysia.
caption: In this painting by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout an angel appears to the Roman centurion Cornelius. The angel tells him to seek out St. Peter.[8] The Walters Art Museum.
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