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Tobit burying the dead

Maker

(artist)
1609-1664

Title

Date of Production

(circa?) 1637 - 1645

Medium

red and brown wash on laid paper, now laid down on Japanese tissue

Dimensions

Height: 39.2 cm
Width: 52 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.1502

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

This incident is taken from the Apocryphal 'Book of Tobit' (14:11-13). Tobias, the son of Tobit, is following his father's advice and burying his parents according to Jewish law. Within the Jewish tradition, earth has been closely linked to the ritual of death; one token of mourning was the placing of earth on the head. Compacted earth also provided the temporary altars on which offerings were made. According to the creation story, God created the earth before the waters, thus giving it precedence over other parts of the universe.

Provenance

Benno Geiger, Italy and Vienna (1882-1965); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 7 - 10 December 1920, lot 70 (as 'A Sacrifice'); Spencer (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Material Evidence, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/10/1998-24/01/1999

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 01/09/1971-01/11/1971

Old Masters from the Witt Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 01/01/1943-01/05/1943

Literature

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1971
cat. no. 108
Illus. repr. (b&w)

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, master draughtsman of the Italian Baroque, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1971
p. 120, no. 108
find fig

Blunt, Anthony, 'A Poussin-Castiglione Problem: Classicism and the Picturesque in 17th century Rome' in 'Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes', Oct. 1939-Jan. 1940 - pp. 142-47; 3, 1/2
p. 144
pl. 27b

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: none.

Collector's mark: none.

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