Healing of blind Tobias

Now in the Ernest Zmetak Art Gallery in Nové Zámky, Slovakia, this Healing of Blind Tobias from around 1630 is one of several versions Stom painted of this popular Old Testament subject. The theme of miraculous sight restored held special appeal for Caravaggist painters, who could dramatize the moment through their mastery of light and shadow. Stom likely painted this during his Roman years. Stom's biblical subjects demonstrate the enduring vitality of the Caravaggist tradition in Sicily long after it had faded elsewhere in Europe.

The candlelit scene focuses attention on the medical act itself, with Tobias’s hands and his father’s upturned face forming the brightest zone. Surrounding figures recede into characteristic deep shadow.