Tobias Frightened by the Fish

Art Historical Context

In the National Gallery of Art's collection, *Tobias Frightened by the* is a captivating etching by Dutch artist Herman van Swane, created between 1551 and 1600. This draws from the apocryphal Book of Tob in the Bible, depicting the young Tobias recoiling in terror as a massive fish leaps from the Tigris River. Accompanied by the angel Raphael (disguised as a), Tobias is on a journey to retrieve money and find a cure for his father's blindness—a narrative rich in themes of divine intervention, faith, and peril that resonated deeply in Renaissance religious art. Swanevelt, known for his landscape etchings infused with atmospheric depth, masterfully employs the etching technique here. By biting acid into a metal plate to create fine, expressive lines, he captures dramatic tension: the fish's glistening scales, Tobias's wide-eyed fright, and swirling water evoke a sense of immediacy and motion. Etchings like this were revolutionary for their tonal subtlety and reproducibility, making biblical stories accessible to a wider audience beyond oil paintings. Acquired through the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund and housed in the CG-E department, this print exemplifies the artistic fusion of storytelling and technical innovation during the late 16th century, bridging Northern European printmaking traditions with vivid spiritual drama.

About the Artist

Herman van Swanevelt · 1603–1655

Herman van Swanevelt (1603–1655) was a leading Dutch Baroque painter, draughtsman, and etcher, celebrated for his luminous Italianate landscapes that bridged the classical ideals of Rome with the emerging naturalism of the Dutch Golden Age. Born in Woerden, near Utrecht, to a family of artisans whose lineage traced back to the renowned Lucas van Leyden, Swanevelt's early life and training remain s...