Restored in 2024 with funding from Donna Malin.

Originally painted for the Venetian church of San Marziale, Tobias and Archangel Raphael has been the subject of much controversy among critics. In his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550), the Tuscan artist and historian Giorgio Vasari claims that Titian painted it in 1507. At first glance, Vasari’s account would seem reliable as it provides a precise description of the picture: “an Angel Raphael with Tobias and a dog in the Church of S. Marziliano, with a distant landscape, where, in a little wood, St. John the Baptist is praying on his knees to Heaven.” At a closer inspection, however, the brushwork and coloring indicate that Titian could not have painted it in his earlier years, but rather from around the late-1530s. Indeed, it is now agreed that Vasari (or his informant) was mistaken as the date 1507 better fits another Tobias and Archangel Raphael that Titian painted for the church of Santa Caterina. This version, today at the Accademia Galleries, is currently dated on stylistic grounds between 1508 and 1514, though recent studies have attempted to push it to circa 1522.

The authorship of the two Tobias and Archangel was also the source of some confusion. In his Le minere della pittura (1664), Marco Boschini attributed the Santa Caterina painting to Sante Zago, a painter probably trained in Titian’s workshop who joined the Guild of the Painters in 1530 and worked in Venice until the 1560s. Considering the chronology of the two canvases, it is likely that Boschini transferred a rumor about the painting in San Marziale to that in Santa Caterina. What is certain is that Zago could not paint the Santa Caterina variant, which should be regarded as an early autograph work by Titian. As for the San Marziale painting, scholarship tends to attribute it to an unknown pupil of Titian and considers the level of execution well below the master’s standards. However, this assessment may have been influenced by the painting’s deteriorated condition prior to its conservation treatment by Save Venice. Indeed, we know that in the 17th century, the Tobias and Archangel in San Marziale was widely admired and even copied. It is the case of Alessandro Varotari (called il Padovanino) who made two copies of the painting today housed at the Osuna Gallery, Washington, and the Museo Civico of Urbania. Interestingly, it would appear that the Urbania canvas was commissioned in the 1610s by Francesco Maria II della Rovere, the last Duke of Urbino, who used to keep it in his “secret wardrobe.”

The subject of the painting is based on the biblical Book of Tobit. The book describes the journey of a young boy named Tobias and Archangel Raphael to the country of Media, where the boy was sent to collect a debt on behalf of his father Tobi, a blind old merchant. One day, Tobias is washing his feet in the Tigris River when a large fish tries to swallow his foot. Tobias shouts in fear, but the angel calms him down and advises to “cut the fish open and take out its gall, heart, and liver,” as they could be used as an ointment to cure blindness and drive away evil spirits (6: 2-7). The book culminates with Tobias’s return home where, as suggested by the angel, he rubs the gall on his father’s eyes and restores his sight.

In his rendition of the subject, the painter has portrayed Tobias holding the freshly caught fish as he walks with the winged Archangel Raphael through the countryside. The young boy gazes at the little box in the angel’s hand containing the fish’s organs. In the background, to the left, an old man has fallen on his knees, his hands clasped together in prayer, his eyes staring upwards as a burst of divine light shines upon him. This figure has generally been interpreted as Saint John the Baptist, mostly because of the stick leaning on his shoulder and the seemingly camel-hair garment. However, preliminary research demonstrates that this would be an iconographic unicum, one in fact difficult to explain both in terms of devotional practices and cultual history.

Some scholars have argued that the painter did not depict the Baptist, but rather Tobias’ father, Tobi. The Book of Tobit says that blindness condemned the old merchant to a life of grinding poverty, so much so that he prayed to God to grant him a quick death. “The prayer was heard in the glorious presence of Almighty God—the Book of Tobit recounts—so Raphael was sent to remove cataracts from Tobit’s eyes so that he might again see God’s sunlight” (3: 16-17). Is this the reason for the inclusion of the old praying figure in the background of the painting? Closer observation and new research during the conservation treatment helped to shed new light on this fascinating issue.

In the summer of 2023, Save Venice funded a maintenance treatment for the painting to remove surface dust and debris. This effort was carried out alongside a diagnostic campaign, which uncovered several compositional changes made by Titian. Following this, the painting was featured in the exhibition Tiziano 1508. Agli esordi di una luminosa carriera at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice (9 September–3 December 2023).

After the exhibition, Tobias and the Archangel Raphael was moved to Enrica Colombini’s conservation laboratory for a meticulous treatment. This phase addressed discolored inpainting and residues from previous restorations. Losses in the paint layer were carefully filled with reversible, conservation-grade materials, and a final protective varnish was applied to safeguard the artwork’s long-term preservation.

Titian (c. 1488/90-1576) and Workshop
Tobias and Archangel Raphael
c. 1538-1539, oil on canvas
193 x 130 cm

Artoni, Paola. “Sub signo Angeli Raphaelis: evocazioni tizianesche nelle marche tipografiche dei Bindoni.” Studi tizianeschi, 9 (2016): 77-88. Link to the article

Battaglia, Roberta, Sarah Ferrari and Antonio Mazzotta, eds. Tiziano 1508. Agli esordi di una luminosa carriera. Florence: Mandragora, 2023

Dal Pozzolo, Enrico. “La bottega di Tiziano: sistema solare e buco nero.” Studi tizianeschi, 4 (2006): 53-98. Link to the article

Joannides, Paul. Titian to 1518: The Assumption of Genius. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2001

Moretti, Massimo. “Una copia dell’Angelo Raffaele e Tobia di Tiziano attribuita al Padovanino nella guardaroba di Francesco Maria II della Rovere.” Storia dell’arte, 35, 135 (2013): 18-31. Link to the article

Ruggeri, Ugo. “Alessandro Varotari detto il Padovanino.” Saggi e Memorie di storia dell’arte, 16 (1988): 101-165, 273-362

Tagliaferro, Giorgio and Bernard Aikema. Le botteghe di Tiziano. Florence: Alinari 24 ORE, 2009. Link to the book