The Archangel Leaves Tobias and his Family

The Book of Tobit was a story Rembrandt returned to again and again across his life, and in 1637, at the height of his success in Amsterdam, he painted its climax. A young man, Tobias, had travelled to collect a debt and to cure his blind father, guided the whole way by a helpful stranger. Only at the parting does the stranger reveal what he is: the archangel Raphael, who now rises into the air, his back to us, his work done. Rembrandt puts almost the entire drama into that departure. The family drops to the ground, the father bowing, Tobias staring up in shock, while the angel is already half turned to light and leaving the scene. It is painted small, on an oak panel barely two feet across.