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Tobias and the Angel, ca. 1618

  • oil paint, canvas
  • 247 x 247 cm
  • Inv. S-13

Public Domain

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The theme of Tobias and the Angel is taken from the Old Testament and relates the story of an episode from the lives of two Jewish exiles, Tobias and his father Tobit. The angel Raphael, in the guise of a young man, accompanied Tobias on a journey to Nineveh in Assyria. When they came to a river Tobias was attacked by a fish. Tobias killed the animal and, on the advice of the angel, cut out its heart, gall and liver. These could later be used for medicinal purposes. In ancient times it was generally believed that these organs had healing powers. In the Old Testament story, when Tobias smeared the gall over his father’s blind eyes his sight was restored. Depictions of the story of Tobias and the angel were especially popular during the seventeenth century. Paintings of this subject were often commissioned when a son was leaving home.

Artist

Gaspar de Crayer RKD VIAF Wikidata
Antwerp 1584 - Ghent 1669
painters (artists)AAT

Title Tobias and the Angel
Date ca. 1618
Period 17th century
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number S-13
Acquisition credit
onbekend
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/S-13
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/6328/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300055874 religious symbolism AAT
25H landscapes Iconclass
Keywords Iconclass 11G angels Iconclass
11Q621 pilgrim(s) Iconclass
21D water (one of the four elements) Iconclass
25F6 fishes Iconclass
25G11 groups of trees Iconclass
25G3 trees Iconclass
25H112 rocks Iconclass
25H15 forest, wood Iconclass
25H2 landscapes with waters, waterscapes, seascapes (in the temperate zone) Iconclass
31A233 kneeling figure Iconclass
31A235 sitting figure Iconclass
34B11 dog Iconclass
41D221(HAT) head-gear: hat Iconclass
41D263 walking-stick, staff, cane Iconclass
71 Old Testament Iconclass
71T the book of Tobit Iconclass
71T57 the angel Raphael tells Tobias to cut the fish to pieces Iconclass
School / Style Baroque AAT
Voyage pittoresque de la Flandre et du Brabant / Jean-Baptiste Descamps. - Paris : Desaint, Saillant, Pissot, Durant, 1769 (p. 238)
Description des plus fameux tableaux que l'on trouve dans les Eglises et autres Edifices, dans la ville de Gand. - A Gand : Chez Pierre de Goesin, 1771 (p. 8)
Le Livre des Jours / E. Malingié. - Gent : s.n., 1779 (p. 76)
Notice et description des tableaux et statues exposés au Muséum du Département de l'Escaut situé à Gand dans l'église de la ci-devant Abbaye St. Pierre + Plusieurs statues antiques et bustes, moulées en plâtre sur les originaux qui sont au Musée de Paris / Pierre François Antoine de Goesin-Verhaeghe. - A Gand : De l'Imprimerie de P.F. de Goesin-Verhaeghe, 1802 (nr. 30)
Notice des tableaux du musée de la ville de Gand, situé au local de l'académie royale de dessin, sculpture, architecture, etc. - Gand : D.J. Vanderhaeghen-Hulin, 1846 (nr. 5)
Catalogue du musée de peinture de la ville de Gand, 1900 / Louis Maeterlinck. - Gand : Imprimerie Victor Van Doosselaere, 1900 (nr. 108)
Museum van Schoone Kunsten : Catalogus ; Oude Meesters, Schilderstukken, teekeningen, plaatsneden (met geschiedkundig overzicht) / Maurice Dupuis, Georges Charles Nicolas Marie Hulin de Loo, Fritz Van Loo. - Gent : Drukkerij F. De Vos, 1938 ; Gent : Stad Gent, 1938 (p. 44)
Gaspar de Crayer : sa vie et ses oeuvres / Hans Vlieghe. - Bruxelles : Arcade, 1972 (p. 97, A 22)
La vie des peintres flamands, allemands et hollandais / Jean-Baptiste Descamps. - Genève : Minkoff Reprints, 1972
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. I, p. 71 (ill.))
Entre Rubens et Van Dyck : Gaspar de Crayer (1584-1669) (exposition Cassel, Musée de Flandre, 30.06 - 04.11.2018) / Sandrine Vézilier-Dussart, Alexis Merle du Bourg, Hans Vlieghe, Matthias Depoorter, Valentine De Beir. - Cassel : Musée départemental de Flandre (Cassel), 2018 (p. 156-157, p. 168 (detail))
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