Tobias and the Angel

Tobias and the Angel is the traditional title of depictions in art of a scene from the Book of Tobit in which Tobias, son of Tobit, meets an angel called Raphael without realising he is an angel (5.5–6) and is then instructed by Raphael what to do with a giant fish he catches (6.2–9). The Book of Tobit is accepted by Catholic and Orthodox Christians as part of the biblical canon, but not by Judaism or most Protestants, the latter including it in the Apocrhypha. The angel is regarded in Christianity as the Archangel Raphael.

Depictions usually show Raphael and a much smaller Tobias walking through a landscape, accompanied by Tobias's dog. Tobias is usually carrying a fish (or two), often tied up with string, or a container for the fishes organs that will later cure his father. Raphael usually has large wings, which we must suppose are invisible to Tobias.

Dogs are unusual in Christian religious art, but the New Testament subject of the Exorcism of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter and the Old Testament one of Tobias and the Angel are exceptions, as they are mentioned in the texts, and depictions often include them. Although the dog in the Biblical account is presumably given to Tobias by his father to provide security as he travels carrying a significant amount of silver, artists tend to show very small dogs, with a long coat of hair that covers deficiencies in drawing them. Artists become noticeably more competent in this as the Renaissance progresses.