GELDER, Aert de
(b. 1645, Dordrecht, d. 1727, Dordrecht)

Tobias in the House of Edna and Raguel

c. 1690
Oil on canvas, 113 x 154 cm
The Leiden Collection, New York

The painter treats here a scene from the Book of Tobit, which is considered apocryphal by Protestant. While Rembrandt and other contemporary painters most often chose to represent the blindness of Tobit or his son Tobias guided by the archangel Raphael, De Gelder depicts the episode of the wedding of Sarah and Tobias. The scene shows the young couple in the house of Sarah's parents, WEdna and Raguel. It is interesting to note that Tobias looks too young to wed.