Tobias and the Angel 1552 - 1616

Curator: Mmm, there's something about this sketch, this lightness... it feels both fragile and powerful, like a half-remembered dream just on the cusp of solidifying. Editor: And what we’re looking at is "Tobias and the Angel," rendered by Hans von Aachen sometime between 1552 and 1616. You’ll find it here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s a Renaissance drawing, a mix of pencil and charcoal on paper, portraying a scene from the Book of Tobit. Curator: The dog at their feet, too! There's a wonderful intimacy created with that humble addition; that makes me believe more than the wings do that this is indeed "real" and that "divine." It tethers it. It speaks of ordinary loyalty in an extraordinary situation. What do you think that says about how Von Aachen understands his social function? Editor: That's insightful. The inclusion of the dog is indeed strategic. It’s interesting how Von Aachen situates a religious scene like this within a recognizable domestic context. I think this underscores the church's ambition to translate biblical stories to broader lay audiences, domesticate them, even as the Counter-Reformation solidified power through accessibility. But you have a point: he could have also used that as leverage for empathy within those "unextraordinary" times. Curator: It looks like a study to me - look at the confidence and speed of those charcoal strokes giving shape to those glorious drapes. Editor: Sketches such as these certainly functioned as preparatory studies for larger paintings. Von Aachen ran one of the most influential workshops in Europe and such sketches allowed an exercise in style, giving his pupils key examples of form and anatomy, influencing painting throughout Europe for generations to come. Curator: Influence, yes, but I feel it offers more! Perhaps the true wonder isn't in its role as a blueprint for something grander, but its unpolished transparency. Here, one sees the artist grappling, thinking—a backstage pass to creation. Editor: Precisely; looking at "Tobias and the Angel" invites us to reflect on not just the final art piece but also how social and historical institutions shape the production of images themselves. Curator: Well, it encourages me, and inspires one to dream of angels, dogs, and divine walks in very terrestrial garments.