Pieter Lastman ca. 1583 – 1633

The Wedding Night of Tobias and Sarah

oil on panel (41 × 58 cm) — 1611 Museum Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Pieter Lastman biography

This work is linked to Tobit 8:2

Tags: Tobit | Raphael

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Seven marriages of Sarah had ended in disaster: all her husbands were killed by a demon during the wedding night. So Tobias was forewarned. He recalled something his companion, the angel Raphael, had told him. He had to burn the liver of the fish he caught in chapter 6 to fumigate the demon.

So here we see Tobias busy with the fire while Sarah looks on from the bed. Above them the angel controls the demon.

Lastman's pupil Rembrandt would also paint a waiting Sarah. Also, it is very well possible that Jan Steen saw Lastman's panel before he made his version of the episode.

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