# The Angel Appears to Tobias [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [GUARDI, Gianantonio]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Oil on canvas ## Commentary The Angel Appears to Tobias c. 1750 Oil on canvas Chiesa dell'Angelo Raffaele, Venice The story of Tobias is recounted in the Book of Tobit. Tobias was sent by his father Tobit to Media to recover a sum of money he had hidden there earlier. Archangel Raphael, sent by God to help Tobit and his family, asked Tobit \(who did not recognize the angel\) whether he may escort his son on his journey and, in company with Tobias' faithful hound, they departed together. They reached the Tigris, where Tobias was attacked by a gigantic fish. The archangel ordered him to capture it and had him remove and conserve its gall, heart and liver. The innards proved to be a medicine which he can use to restore his father's sight. The hovering angel is derived from a painting by Sebastiano Ricci in San Stae, Venice. Gianantonio Guardi often borrowed poses or motifs from other painters, recasting them in his own vivid manner. ## Related artworks - [Dergoumidas before the Grand Vizier]() - [Flight into Egypt]() - [Herminia and Vaprino Find the Wounded Tancred \(detail\)]() - [Herminia and Vaprino Find the Wounded Tancred]() - [Holy Family with St John the Baptist and St Catherine]() - [Madonna and Child with Saints]() - [Minerva]() - [Portrait of Ferdinand VI of Spain]() - [Portrait of Marshal Matthias von der Schulenburg]() - [Rest on the Flight into Egypt]() - [The Amorous Turk]() - [The Death of Joseph]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()