Tobias heals his Father

The Book of Tobit's account of young Tobias healing his blind father with fish gall guided by the angel Raphael was a popular subject in seventeenth-century painting, partly because it validated the role of healing and care as sacred acts. Strozzi's 1640 treatment at the Prado depicts the moment Tobias applies the cure to his father's eyes, with Raphael (who had accompanied him on the journey disguised as a human) present as guide and heavenly guarantor of the miracle. Strozzi was drawn repeatedly to scenes of physical care — the nurse who tends wounds, the healer who restores sight — perhaps reflecting his own formation as a friar obligated to works of mercy. The Prado's extensive Italian Baroque holdings acquired this canvas as representative of Strozzi's mature Venetian style, and it holds its own among the museum's Spanish and Flemish masterworks through sheer warmth of feeling.

The healing gesture — Tobias's hand at his father's eyes — is the compositional fulcrum, drawing the eye immediately. Strozzi differentiates the three figures through colour: the old man's earth tones, Tobias's youthful warm flesh, and the angel's luminous drapery. Paint handling is loose and confident, with faces more carefully worked than hands or drapery.