Johann Valentin Haidt, “Zinzendorf als Lehrer der Völker des Erdkreises” [Zinzendorf as Teacher of the Peoples of the World] (c. 1747)

The oil painting “Zinzendorf als Lehrer der Völker des Erdkreises” [Zinzendorf as teacher of the peoples of the world] by Johann Valentin Haidt, painted in circa 1747, depicts the migration of members of the Herrnhut Brethren Church (also known as Moravian Church) as a missionary movement. Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) traveled to the Baltic States as a preacher and missionary and worked in England, North America and the Caribbean. He is depicted in the right foreground of the picture as he receives the divine light on his forehead, mouth and heart to preach equally to indigenous people, African enslaved people and European settlers. Those who have already been converted are in the middle ground of the scene. In the background, the town that grew from this religious community can be seen as a result of the mission.