For the setting of Tobias’s journey to Rages, Van de Velde placed an ancient Roman building beside a Dutch canal. Never having travelled to Italy, Van de Velde must have consulted a drawing by another artist to depict the Casa dei Crescenzi, an 11th-century palazzo. He also borrowed the figure group from Hendrick Goudt’s 1608 print after Adam Elsheimer’s painting The Small Tobias, with only minor changes. The local topographic elements are original however, reflecting Van de Velde’s specialty. His print was published as one of a large set of landscapes, by Claes Jansz. Visscher (1587–1652) in Amsterdam.