Landscape with Tobias and the Angel

Van Scorel completed this extraordinary panorama landscape with the apocryphal story of Tobias and the Angel between his pilgrimage to the Holy Land and his arrival in Rome. It is considered a key work in his oeuvre and for landscape painting, a genre that was not then fully established. For the first time, the landscape functioned not just as the backdrop, but became the main theme in the painting, while the figures were confined to the wings. Van Scorel also drew on outdoor studies from his travel sketchbook. Tobias’ travels to heal his blinded father are traditionally construed as a spiritual trip and an example of faith in God and a love of one’s neighbors. Van Scorel depicts the struggle between Tobias and the fish, which at the behest of the Archangel Raphael (disguised as Asaryas) he throws onto the shore. The fish’s liver and gall are supposed to bring his father and his future bride Sarah salvation. Although Asaryas only later reveals himself to be an angel, here he already boasts wings. In the centre we see Sarah’s liberation from a demon. (Bettina Baumgärtel)