Returning in his carriage from Jerusalem to Ethiopia, a court Eunuch met the apostle Philip, who convinced him that the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah had been fulfilled by the life and death of Christ (Acts of the Apostles VII 26–38). The picture and its companion piece 'Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene on Easter Morning' (in Frankfurt) were painted for Cardinal Fabrizio Spada in 1678. Saint Philip's missionary role paralleled the cardinal's efforts to combat Protestantism. Both pictures depict contrasting times of the day: here early evening, in the other early morning. The French painters Claude and Poussin, who worked in Rome, perfected an idealized classical landscape where nature is carefully ordered. Claude's work was especially popular in eighteenth-century Britain and strongly influenced Richard Wilson.