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Carracci, Agostino; Raffaellino da Reggio
Tobias and the Angel Tobie et l'ange
1581 1581

Agostino Carracci came from a family of Italian artists and trained under the engraver Domenico Tibaldi. During the late 1570s and early 1580s, Carracci produced a variety of high quality reproductive engravings after works by other Italian artists, including Raffaellino da Reggio—an Italian Mannerist painter who mainly worked in Rome. The current print was produced in 1581 and designed after Raffaellino’s painting Tobias and the Angel housed at the Galleria Borghese. The orientation of Carracci’s engraving is the same as Raffaellino da Reggio’s panel; however, the former left out a few details from his work that are present in Raffaellino’s painting and form part of the pictured biblical narrative. Tobias’s faithful dog, whom the painter depicted near the angel’s side, is absent from Carracci’s engraving. Moreover, there is no allusion to Tobias catching the fish in this piece—an episode from the Book of Tobit that occupies the right middle ground in Raffaellino’s painting. Instead of showing the Tigris River in winding fashion, Carracci places a villa in the far distance of his composition. In the engraved rendition, as in the painting, the fish Tobias carries is rather diminutive, and the angel holds onto his companion’s hand as the figures make their way through a forested path.

Carracci, Agostino; Raffaellino da Reggio
Bologna, Italy 1557-Parma, Italy 1602; Codemondo, Italy 1550-Rome, Italy 1578 Bologna, Italy 1557-Parma, Italy 1602; Codemondo, Italy 1550-Rome, Italy 1578
Tobias and the Angel Tobie et l'ange
1581 1581
Engraving, state 2 of 2 Gravure, 2e état sur 2
overall: 40.6 cm x 28.7 cm
Purchase, Bader Acquisition Fund, 2010 Achat, Fonds d’acquisition Bader, 2010
53-046.013

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