Italian School

Italian School
17th Century
Tobias and the Angel Raphael Setting out on Their Journey
Oil on canvas
39 x 52 inches (99 x 132 cm)
The story of Tobias and the Angel is told in the apochryphal Book of Tobit. Tobit, a blind, elderly Jew living in Nineveh, sends his son Tobias to collect money owed to him in a distant city. He hires a man whom he believes to be his kinsman Azarias to accompany the boy on his journey. The "kinsman" is actually the angel Raphael, who counsels Tobias through a number of adventures on the road, eventually brings him home safely, and even cures Tobit's blindness.

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