Tobias and the Angel
after Adam Elsheimer (Frankfurt am Main 1578 - Rome 1610)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1600 - 1677
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
582 x 1154 mm
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139790
Caption
This landscape, after another on copper of 1606, includes the biblical story related in the Apochrypha of Tobias who journeyed from Niniveh to Media with his little dog and a guardian angel, Raphael at his side. Whilst washing on the shores of the River Tigris he was attacked by a large fish. He managed to pull it onto the land, kill it and remove its heart, liver and gall which he later used to exorcise the demon that had cursed his wife, Sarah, and to restore the sight of his father, Tobit.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Tobias and the Angel, after Adam Elsheimer (Frankfurt am Main 1578 – Rome 1610). Tobias is shown crossing a river over stepping stones, with the Angel behind him. After a version in the Historisches Museum at Frankfurt. Another version, possibly the original, was once in the collection of William Beckford at Fonthill Abbey, by 1833 and then became the property of his son-in-law, the 10th Duke of Hamilton and sold by the 12th Duke at Christie's, June 17 1882 for 24 guineas; subsequently belonged to Claude Philips (art critic of the Daily Telegraph); Alec Martin and his widow Lady Martin before being sold at Christie's in 1977.
Provenance
In 1677 inventory and thence by descent until acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002
Credit line
Ham House, The Dysart Collection (purchased by HM Government in 1948 and transferred to the National Trust in 2002)
Makers and roles
after Adam Elsheimer (Frankfurt am Main 1578 - Rome 1610), artist
