In the Book of Tobit the angel Raphael was invoked by Tobit, a just and poor man, to accompany his son Tobias to collect a credit of ten silver talents contracted ten years earlier. During the journey Raffaele showed Tobias the safest way and saved him more than once, without ever revealing himself as an angel, except at the end of the story. In the painting, the angel has already revealed himself by showing his wings to Tobias who, as per the biblical story, carries in his hand the fish that Raphael had him capture in the Tigris, saving him from the bite that the animal was about to give to his foot.