Tobia and the angel

"The young man left together with the angel, and even the dog followed them and went with them. They walked together until he surprised them on the first evening; then they stopped to spend the night on the Tigris river. The young man went down into the river to wash his feet, when a big fish leaping from the water tried to devour the boy's foot, who started screaming. But the angel said to him: "Grab the fish and do not let it escape." The boy managed to catch the fish and pull it to the shore. The angel told him then: - Open the fish and take out the gallbladder, the heart and the liver; put them aside but throw away the intestines. In fact, its gall, heart and liver can be useful for medications. The boy quartered the fish, took away his gallbladder, heart and liver. He roasted a portion of the fish and ate it; the other part, he put it in storage after salting it. Then both resumed the journey, until they were close to Media. " In the Bible, the book of Tobit tells a long journey of this young man, who faces different tests with the help of the Archangel Raphael. One of the episodes is capturing the fish that will then be used to defeat the devil. In this painting of the Nordic school, probably Flemish, the two fundamental characters are relegated to a tiny space at the base of the painting, which unfolds in a triumph of vegetation, reflective water, and large trees. All of this naturally corresponds to the taste of the era: the anonymous artist invites the viewer to discover small details which offer a more complex meaning to a work that at first appears to be only a landscape. Also noteworthy is the cute dog and the other figurs on the right, which give a further rural feel to the whole scene. The artistic touch is meticulous, effective, and almost romantic in representing the expanse of leaves and branches that rise upwards, where large clouds move the sky.