Tobias and the Angel
Artist
Jan van de Velde II
(Dutch, 1593-1641)
Date16th or 17th Century
CultureDutch
MediumEtching
ClassificationPrints
Credit LineMuseum purchase, 1973
Object numberSN8766
A master draughtsman and printmaker, Jan van de Velde II was the nephew of Esias van de Velde. Spending the majority of his career in Haarlem, van de Velde was known best for his images marked by small controlled cuts and sharply outlined forms. The Apocryphal subject of Tobias and the Angel is taken from the Book of Tobit. Depicted here is the central episode in which Tobias, son of the blind merchant Tobit, is sent by his father to collect a debt. Accompanied by a boy, the Archangel Raphael in disguise, Tobias embarks on the journey and catches a fish-the heart, liver, and gall of which will later cure his father's blindness. The lush river landscape is reminiscent of the Dutch countryside while the background hills suggest the influence of the Italianate style. Most notable perhaps is the similar appearance of the two figures. It has been suggested that this was a device used to propagate the belief that God assigns each human being a guardian angel who becomes an extension of that person's soul.
On View
Not on view
last quarter of 1600s or first quarter of 1700s
