'Tobias and the Angel' - Leonardo painted a part of Verrocchio's masterpiece

In this video, Charlotte Wytema, a fellow of the National Gallery, London, and partners of three museums, explore the history and meaning of the 'Tobias and the Angel.'

The 'Tobias and the Angel' is an altar painting finished around 1470–1475 by Andrea del Verrocchio and his workshop.

Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435– 1488) was one of the leading artists of late 15th-century Florence. Some famous artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Pietro Perugino, and Lorenzo di Credi had their apprentices at Verrocchio's workshop.

Verrocchio was inventive and multi-talented as a sculptor and a painter. However, he remains little known by the general public as Leonardo da Vinci, his apprentice, is more famous than him.

The painting depicts a scene from the canonical Book of Tobit. The blind merchant and devout Jew sent his son, Tobias, to collect a debt. God sent the Archangel Raphael – the winged figure to accompany Tobias and his dog.

Tobias walks together with the Archangel Raphael. Raphael holds a miniature box. Tobias carries a fish. He listens to the angel's instruction about extracting the gallbladder, heart, and liver of the fish and using them to create a potion that would heal his father.

Finally, Tobias returned home and used the fish organs to cure his father’s blindness.

Tobias and Raphael's journey was a favorite story in Florence. In the late fifteenth century, some confraternities were developed to show devotion to the Archangel Raphael, known as the guardian angel of healing and medicine. Raphael in Hebrew means “God heals”.

Leonardo da Vinci may have painted some parts of this painting.

Follow Charlotte Wytema of the National Gallery, London, and partners of three museums to learn more about the 'Tobias and Raphael.'