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A mid to late 17th large scale oil on canvas portrait of Louis XIV and his brother the Duc D'Orleans depicted in the allegorical subject of Tobias and the Angel.
The canvas Flemish
The artist possibly Godfrey Kneller
Provenance: Schloss Blankenburg. There are various labels on the frame.(Blankenburg 19th/20th century Inv. Nr. 266, Blankenburg, circa 1929, Inv. Nr. 0578)
'And Raphael was sent to heal them both, that is, to scale away the whiteness of Tobit's eyes, and to give Sara the daughter of Raguel for a wife to Tobias.' (The Book of Tobit, The Holy Bible, St. James version)
This important seventeenth century French painting of Tobias and the Angel is based on a chapter from The Holy Bible's Book of Tobit. It has also long been thought to be a rare double portrait of the two French princes - Louis XIV and his brother, Philippe. Cast in the roles of the archangel Raphael and Tobias, it is an illuminating choice of story in light of the brothers' turbulent relationship with each other.
Tobias and the Angel is based on a story in the apocryphal Book of Tobit. Tobit was a Jewish exile in the Assyrian city of Nineveh who, defying royal declarations, buried the bodies of Jews who had been executed as criminals. As punishment Tobit lost his property and after becoming impoverished fled the city with his wife, Anna and their son, Tobias. The story continues with Tobit later losing his eyesight when some sparrow droppings fell in to his eyes. Tobit had encouraged his son, Tobias to marry someone of his 'own kindred' - and he had been promised his uncle Raguel's daughter, Sara. Sara had been married seven times but was possessed by a demon that killed the seven husbands prior to their wedding nights.
This picture takes up the story when Tobit sends Tobias to recover some money he had deposited in a city far away and pays a man to accompany his son. Unbeknown to Tobit and Tobias the guide is the archangel, Raphael:
'And as they went on their journey, they came in the evening to the river Tigris, and they lodged there. And when the young man went down to wash himself, a fish leaped out of the river, and would have devoured him. Then the angel said unto him, Take the fish. And the young man laid hold of the fish, and drew it to land. To whom the angel said, Open up the fish, and take the heart and the liver and the gall, and put them up safely. So the young man did as the angel commanded him; and when they had roasted the fish, they did eat it […] Then the young man said to the angel, to what use is the heart and the liver and the gal of the fish? And he said unto him, Touching the heart and the liver, if a devil or an evil spirit trouble any, we must make a smoke thereof before the man or the woman, and the party shall be no more vexed. As for the gall, it is good to anoint a man that hath whiteness in his eyes, and he shall be healed.' (Chapter 6, verses 1-8)
Tobias and the angel continue on their journey and en route stay at his cousin's home. Tobias is betrothed to Sara and, as instructed by Raphael, used the smoke from the fish to banish the demon that possessed her. The demon fled and their marriage was consummated. Staying with his new bride Tobias trustingly sent the angel on to collect the money for Tobit. The angel duly returned with the money and they all returned to Tobit.
'[Tobias] took hold of his father: and he strake of the gall on his father's eyes, saying, Be of good hope, my father. And when his eyes began to smart, he rubbed them: And the whiteness pilled away from the corners of his eyes: and when he saw his son, he fell upon his neck and wept.' (Chapter 11, verses 11-13)
After eight years of blindness the fish had restored Tobit's eyesight and his money had been recovered. Once Tobit's sight had returned Raphael revealed his identity as one of the seven holy angels, which presented the prayers of the saints.
The story of Tobias and the angel has been an important and popular story for painters over several centuries. Other notable pictures include Pietro Perugino's 'Archangel Raphael with Tobias' in the collection of The National Gallery, London and Claude Lorrain's 'Landscape with Tobias and the Angel' in the collection of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.
The subject matter has enjoyed particular attention at several points in history with varying interpretations. The subject had a following, for example, with merchant families in fifteenth century Florence. There, merchants like Tobit, were left with little choice but to send their sons on long and treacherous journeys to trade goods and save the family fortune. The subject of the painting has therefore come to denote familial devotion, an emblem and celebration of honesty in business transactions, a blessing for a safe journey and thanks for a safe return.
In this portrait the story has been seen through seventeenth century eyes and the artist has cast the Biblical figures in a contemporary Baroque setting. On the left the archangel Raphael is gesturing to Tobias, instructing him to pound the fish in to medicine, which will cure his father's blindness.
The possible identification of the two figures adds an intriguing aspect to the painting. Inventories from the nineteenth century reveal that the identification of the sitters was thought to have been the two French princes, Louis XIV (1638-1715) and his brother, Philippe, Duc d'Orleans (1640-1701). This in itself makes the portrait rare as few paintings of the brothers pictured together exist. Those that were painted are more often of the princes as children, for example those by Charles Beaubrun and Philippe de Champaigne.
It was not uncommon for the king to be presented in the guise of other mortals and gods alike. Literature and art presented Louis XIV as Augustus, Alexander, Charlemagne, Hercules, Neptune, Jupiter, Apollo and the sun. Whilst partly done in celebration and praise of the monarch it was also seen as an indirect comment on the king's behaviour. The well-documented relationship between the two princes makes it an interesting story for the artist to have chosen. Philippe was the king's only sibling; viewed with suspicion and discouraged from exercising political power or challenging his brother. Despite proving himself to be a courageous soldier he was seen as a frivolous figure, more interested in court society and fashions of the day than the governing of the country. Philippe was also openly homosexual which made him the subject of ridicule, even to his brother. The casting of them in the roles of Tobias and the angel gives Philippe a much more sober and supportive role whilst still maintaining the sense of hierarchy between the two brothers.
Tobias and the Angel is a significant painting on several different levels with interpretations encompassing a variety of religious, social and historical elements. It is arguably however, above all, the gentle and intimate portrayal of a man on a quest to save his family that makes it so compelling.