Tobias and the Angel

At blind Tobit's request, son Tobias goes on an errand with a companion who is secretly the angel Raphael. Tobias captures a huge fish and saves the gall, which Raphael tells him will cure blindness. Appropriate to the theme of seeing and not seeing, the pair emerges from the darkness with fish in hand. Generations of Dutch artists were captivated by Adam Elsheimer's dark, mysterious tonalities. He worked in Rome and died young, but his work was known via Hendrik Goudt's engravings. In this exceptionally fine example, flickers of light reveal leaves, a lizard, and ducks in a richly varied landscape, and the beautiful calligraphic inscription has fortunately not been trimmed off by a previous owner.