This painting depicts a scene from the biblical Book of Tobit (chapter 6). The angel Raphael directs Tobias to catch a fish that had suddenly appeared while Tobias was washing his feet in the river. This painting has an unusually bright, almost aquatic coloring. It is also unusual for its depiction of Raphael without wings and the appearance of a very large fish . Both the winglessness and fish size are faithful to the biblical account which describes a "large" fish and indicates that Raphael appeared as a human being (no wings mentioned). In the centuries old tradition of paintings on this theme, this one is distinctive. It has no clear antecendents though elements (the angel’s hairband and staff, for example) are certainly part of the tradition.

The painting is likely from the nineteenth century, when greater naturalism in the depiction of religious scenes became common. The use of fixed joint stretcher bars indicates a likely date of no later than around 1850, after which expandable joints came into use. The painting could have been composed as early as the late-eighteenth century.

Oil on canvas.

Canvas shows crease lines along current stretcher bars. Either the painting was previously stretched on a smaller frame or the painting was subject to pressure along the current stretcher bars. The painting itself is in good condition overall. There are some light nicks and apparent soiling in places, as well as a touch of paint loss at one spot along the bottom frame edge. THere is some light craquelure along the lower right edge.

Image 28 3/8” x 21 5/8”.

Frame 31 3/8” x 24 3/4”.