Description
This scene is the moving conclusion of the story of Tobias, the young man at the right. It addresses the themes of family devotion and trust. Tobias’s father sent him on a long journey to retrieve family money. The angel Raphael appeared as a relative, offering the traveler protection against such things as an attack by a huge fish, whose organs Tobias took on Raphael’s advice. Upon his return home, Tobias discovers his father has gone blind, and Raphael advises him to place the fish’s gallbladder on his father’s eyes to cure him. Strozzi depicts the miraculous cure and the moment in which Raphael reveals that he is an angel.
Provenance
Angelo Costa, Genoa (by 1955);; (Harari & Johns, London, and Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993.
Accession Number
1993.5
Medium
oil on wood
Dimensions
Framed: 57.2 x 80 x 10.2 cm (22 1/2 x 31 1/2 x 4 in.); Unframed: 42.7 x 65.5 cm (16 13/16 x 25 13/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund and Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Tags
Painting Baroque (1600–1750) Oil Painting Italian Color: Red Color: Brown
Background & Context
Background Story
The Healing of Tobit from c. 1625 depicts the biblical story of Tobit, who was healed of blindness by his son Tobias with the help of the angel Raphael. The subject combines the physical drama of the healing (Tobit regaining his sight) with the spiritual significance of divine intervention (the angel Raphael as God's agent), making it an ideal subject for Strozzi's combination of physical realism and devotional intensity. The oil on wood format allows the richness of color and precision of detail that distinguish Strozzi's smaller works from his larger canvases.
Cultural Impact
Strozzi's Healing of Tobit demonstrates the Genoese Baroque's ability to combine physical realism with spiritual significance in a single composition. The healing of blindness is rendered with the physical specificity of Baroque realism—Tobit's expression, the angel's gesture, the moment of healing—while the spiritual significance of the divine intervention is conveyed through the angel's presence and the dramatic lighting that distinguishes the sacred from the mundane.
Why It Matters
The Healing of Tobit is Strozzi's Genoese Baroque combining physical realism and spiritual significance: the moment of healing rendered with Baroque specificity (Tobit's expression, the angel's gesture) while the spiritual significance of divine intervention is conveyed through the angel's presence and the dramatic lighting. The oil on wood format allows the richness and precision that distinguish Strozzi's smaller works.
