Landscape with Tobias and the Angel

The celebrated masterpieces of Claude Gellée (1600–1682), known from his birthplace as Claude Lorrain, conveyed in full measure the artist’s subtle perception of the shifting beauty of the natural world. Morning, Midday, Evening and Night are traditionally linked together as the Times of Day series. They were painted at different times, but for the same client – Henri van Halmale, the Dean of Antwerp Cathedral. From his collection, the whole series passed to the Kassel Gallery in Germany and later to France, to the Chateau de Malmaison, home of Empress Josephine. Later they were bought from the former Empress’s heirs by Russian Emperor Alexander I.
The artist conveys with feeling and precision the state of the surrounding world at key moments of the 24-hour cycle. Furthermore, each of those states is matched by the mood of a narrative scene delicately introduced into the landscape. The depiction of Evening presents a sunset and in the last rays of the parting sun, gleaming on the surface of the river, a miracle is taking place: the gall from a fish that Tobias pulled from the river on the advice of the Archangel Raphael will restore his blind father’s sight. while the fish’s heart and liver will deliver Tobias’s bride from the evil spirit Asmodeus.