Curatorial Notes
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.
Artwork Identification
Title The Healing of Tobit
Title (PT) A Cura de Tobias
Title (ES) La curación de Tobías
Artist Bernardo Strozzi
Artist Bio Bernardo Strozzi (Italian, 1581?-1644)
Date c. 1625
Work Type Painting
Location & Collection
Institution Cleveland Museum of Art
Source View Museum Page
License Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0
