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Style of Salvator Rosa, 'Tobias and the Angel', 17th century

About the work

In the apocryphal Book of Tobit, Tobias travels to the city of Media to collect a debt for his blind father, Tobit, accompanied by the Archangel Raphael. When Tobias stops beside the river Tigris, a fish tries to devour him. Raphael directs him to remove the fish’s heart, liver and gall bladder; these will later restore his father’s sight.

In this picture, the angel and Tobias are dwarfed by a wild and desolate landscape. They are framed by huge pieces of stone and a rocky grotto to the right and splintered trees to the left. The appearance of this picture has changed significantly over time as the varnish has darkened and turned yellow. The vast composition (it’s a little over 2 metres high by 3 metres wide) was painted by an anonymous artist in the style of Salvator Rosa, whose Landscape with Tobias and the Angel is in the National Gallery’s collection.

Key facts

Full title
Tobias and the Angel
Artist
Style of Salvator Rosa
Artist dates
1615 - 1673
Date made
17th century
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
236.7 × 339.3 cm
Acquisition credit
Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1870
Inventory number
NG811
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Previous owners

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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