Raguel's Reception of Tobias at Ecbatana
Here depicted is the Old Testament story of Tobias at the House of Raguel. In the center foreground we see Raguel embracing the young Tobias, as he learns that this visitor is the son of his brother Tobit. Tobias’s guardian, the archangel Raphael, recognizable by his wings, is standing behind them, while Raguel’s wife Anna and daughter Sara, shown to the right, are overcome by emotion. Upon hearing the joyful news, Raguel commands a sheep to be killed – which is pictured to the left – in preparation of a festive dinner.
As is typical of the time, the artist incorporated various moments in the Old Testament story into the same image. Therefore, in the left background, we see Tobias and the Angel arriving at a lake, where Raphael subsequently encourages his companion to catch a fish that will help cure his father’s blindness. Finally, to the far right, Tobias is joined in matrimony to Raguel’s daughter Sarah.
The drawing is signed ‘L. Pier’ in the lower right corner – an abbreviation of Pieter Aertsen’s nickname ‘Lange Pier’, meaning Long Peter. The sixteenth-century Netherlandish artist is mostly known for his highly realistic paintings of still-lives and genre scenes. In contrast, his works with religious subject matter tend to show a more mannered style. The drawing depicted here is illustrative of Aertsen’s mannerism, apparent in the noticeably elongated features of the figures, their ovoid shaped heads, as well as the stylistic properties of the vessels seen in the lower right.
Only a handful of drawings by Aertsen have come down to us. Studying the corpus of circa twenty securely attributed sheets on basis of their draftsmanship and stylistic properties has enabled Wouter Kloek, former curator of paintings at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, to establish a tentative dating of the artist’s graphic oeuvre.
This corpus forms a point of reference in the process of dating the Museum’s previously unpublished drawing. Aertsen’s pen lines have a wavering, almost quivering quality. Volumes and shading are indicated by delicate grey washes, and very limited use is made of parallel hatching. These stylistic qualities are comparable to those in Aertsen’s Adoration of the Magi (formerly Calmann Galeries, London) dated by Kloek around 1550, and Saint Martin and the Beggar (Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, inv. no. 1949:32), dateable around 1554. The drawing of Tobias at the house of Raguel can therefore be situated around the beginning of the 1550s.[1]
Possibly this design it served as a preliminary sketch for a painting or tapestry. As of yet, no related artwork by Aertsen is known.
[1] Cf. W. Kloek, ‘De tekeningen van Pieter Aertsen en Joachim Beuckelaer’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, vol. 40 (1989), pp. 129-66. In style this sheet most strongly resembles Christ and his Disciples on their Way to Gethsemane, Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlungen (inv. no. 1980.2).
As is typical of the time, the artist incorporated various moments in the Old Testament story into the same image. Therefore, in the left background, we see Tobias and the Angel arriving at a lake, where Raphael subsequently encourages his companion to catch a fish that will help cure his father’s blindness. Finally, to the far right, Tobias is joined in matrimony to Raguel’s daughter Sarah.
The drawing is signed ‘L. Pier’ in the lower right corner – an abbreviation of Pieter Aertsen’s nickname ‘Lange Pier’, meaning Long Peter. The sixteenth-century Netherlandish artist is mostly known for his highly realistic paintings of still-lives and genre scenes. In contrast, his works with religious subject matter tend to show a more mannered style. The drawing depicted here is illustrative of Aertsen’s mannerism, apparent in the noticeably elongated features of the figures, their ovoid shaped heads, as well as the stylistic properties of the vessels seen in the lower right.
Only a handful of drawings by Aertsen have come down to us. Studying the corpus of circa twenty securely attributed sheets on basis of their draftsmanship and stylistic properties has enabled Wouter Kloek, former curator of paintings at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, to establish a tentative dating of the artist’s graphic oeuvre.
This corpus forms a point of reference in the process of dating the Museum’s previously unpublished drawing. Aertsen’s pen lines have a wavering, almost quivering quality. Volumes and shading are indicated by delicate grey washes, and very limited use is made of parallel hatching. These stylistic qualities are comparable to those in Aertsen’s Adoration of the Magi (formerly Calmann Galeries, London) dated by Kloek around 1550, and Saint Martin and the Beggar (Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, inv. no. 1949:32), dateable around 1554. The drawing of Tobias at the house of Raguel can therefore be situated around the beginning of the 1550s.[1]
Possibly this design it served as a preliminary sketch for a painting or tapestry. As of yet, no related artwork by Aertsen is known.
[1] Cf. W. Kloek, ‘De tekeningen van Pieter Aertsen en Joachim Beuckelaer’, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, vol. 40 (1989), pp. 129-66. In style this sheet most strongly resembles Christ and his Disciples on their Way to Gethsemane, Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlungen (inv. no. 1980.2).
Artwork Details
- Title: Raguel's Reception of Tobias at Ecbatana
- Artist: Pieter Aertsen (Netherlandish, Amsterdam 1507/8–1575 Amsterdam)
- Former Attribution: Maarten van Heemskerck (Netherlandish, Heemskerck 1498–1574 Haarlem)
- Date: 1520–75
- Medium: Pen and brown ink, with gray wash
- Dimensions: 7 1/8 x 13 3/8 in. (18.1 x 33.9 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Carl Selden Trust, 1999
- Object Number: 1999.311
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Pieter Aertsen
Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola)
1620–50
Hans Bol
1589
Jan Brueghel the Elder
ca. 1588–89
Lucas van Leyden
1520s
Bartholomeus Spranger
ca. 1580–85
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.