The Healing of Tobitc. 1625 · Study 1993.5

Context from the museum

This scene is the moving conclusion of the story of Tobias, the young man at the right. It addresses the themes of family devotion and trust. Tobias’s father sent him on a long journey to retrieve family money. The angel Raphael appeared as a relative, offering the traveler protection against such things as an attack by a huge fish, whose organs Tobias took on Raphael’s advice. Upon his return home, Tobias discovers his father has gone blind, and Raphael advises him to place the fish’s gallbladder on his father’s eyes to cure him. Strozzi depicts the miraculous cure and the moment in which Raphael reveals that he is an angel.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for The Healing of Tobit is 65.5 cm wide and 42.7 cm high, equivalent to approximately 25.8 × 16.8 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 1.53:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.28 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 21.8% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 117.3 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With The Healing of Tobit in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, oil on wood, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this horizontal composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 65.5 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?