This painting depicts the scene from the biblical Book of Tobit (ch 6) when 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 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).

The painting is likely from the nineteenth century, when greater naturalism in the depiction of religious scenes became common, but it could have been painted as early as the eighteenth century or as late as the early twentieth century.

Oil on canvas.

31.5” x 25”.