Italian School; Second Third Of The 17th Century. "the Healing Of Tobit."

Italian school; second third of the 17th century. "The Healing of Tobias." Oil on canvas. Returned. Very good condition. Dimensions: 117.5 x 107 cm; 130 x 118 cm (frame). This canvas illustrates the moment when Tobias, following the instructions of the archangel Raphael, smears his father's eyes with fish gall to cure his blindness. The pictorial treatment of this work allows it to be placed in the Italian school of the last third of the 17th century. The realism of the figures, the color palette and the dramatic lighting bring us closer to the characteristics of this school. Abandoning the theatricality and artifice of the Baroque, the work focuses on a nuanced scene where realism has a great pictorial scope. Faced with the exuberant and elegant line, with the virtuous and elaborate execution, a general reaction emerged at the beginning of the 18th century, based on compositional austerity and operational sobriety. Thus, contrary to the desire for virtuosity of the previous century, artists took up the earlier models in a more sober and solid form, focusing on the characterization of the figures, even if, in this case, the body retains characteristics of the influence of Michelangelo, with that excessive volume. One of the most represented themes in the 17th and 18th centuries is the healing of Tobias. According to the biblical text of the same name describing the illness from which his father, Tobias, suffered during his exile in Babylon: "I did not know that there were sparrows on the wall; suddenly, their burning excrement fell on my eyes, producing white spots." I sought treatment from the doctors, but the more remedies they gave me, the less I saw because of the spots, until I became completely blind (Tob 2:10). The spots described in the text could correspond to the exudate of purulent conjunctivitis, the most common cause of which is a Chlamydia trachomatis infection. In the same story, the archangel Saint Raphael tells Tobit the remedy to use to restore his father's sight: "Coat his eyes with fish gall; the remedy will shrink the white spots and detach them from his eyes. Thus, your father will regain his sight and see the light (Tob 11:8). These types of infections, endemic in this region, were treated with irritants, and this type of treatment was used until the mid-20th century, when the causative agent of the disease and antibiotics were discovered. It has restorations.