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Maker Once Known; Heemskerck, Maerten van (after)
The Departure of the Angel; No. 10 in a series of 10: The Story of Tobias Le départ de l'ange; no 10 d'une série 10 : Le livre de Tobie
1556 1556

Although this engraving was made after a design by Maerten van Heemskerck, it shares few compositional elements with Van Heemskerck’s print. The author of the current work adopts the kneeling figures of Tobit and Tobias from Van Heemskerck, but the positioning of these biblical characters within each piece differs. Moreover, here, the angel at the top left of the print faces the opposite direction. Raphael glances back at Tobit and his son and appears to be interacting with them. Tobias’s dog looks up at the angel and more or less mirrors Tobit’s praying stance. In this rendition, Anna also stands on the same level as her husband and son; she is not raised on a platform. By placing Anna in the foreground, the artist clearly separates the immediate scene from the one occurring at the back. In the subsidiary episode, Tobias tries to compensate Azarias for everything he has done, not yet realizing that he is in the presence of one of the holy angels. It is in the moments that follow, that Raphael reveals his celestial identity to his hosts and departs for heaven. Toward the rear middle, a temple featuring a representation of Moses holding the Tablets of the Law occupies the landscape—drawing a parallel to an earlier print in the series.

Maker Once Known; Heemskerck, Maerten van (after)
Heemskerk, Netherlands 1498-Haarlem, Netherlands 1574 Heemskerk, Netherlands 1498-Haarlem, Netherlands 1574
The Departure of the Angel; No. 10 in a series of 10: The Story of Tobias Le départ de l'ange; no 10 d'une série 10 : Le livre de Tobie
1556 1556
Engraving, state 1 of 1 Gravure, état unique
overall: 20.3 cm x 24.8 cm
Purchase, Bader Acquisition Fund, 2010 Achat, Fonds d’acquisition Bader, 2010
53-046.039

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