The Healing of Old Tobias

The Healing of Old Tobit was hitherto attributed to Paul Troger, but research indicates that it was the work of his pupil Martin Knoller, and that it was the picture submitted for the competition in which the artist won second prize at the Vienna Academy in 1753.
The scene where old Tobit is healed of his blindness comes from the apocryphal text of the Book of Tobit, 1–14. “Tobit ran to his father, and put the gall on his eyes, and his eyes were cleared, and the whiteness fell from his eyes, and he was healed.”
Knoller renders the scene dramatically, in a curtained-off room. The theatrical gestures of the secondary figures emphasise the miraculous event, which is further enhanced by the bright colours of the garments. The lighting effect and the arrangement of the figures make for a histrionic scene.
The narrative element is provided by Raphael’s walking-staff, the dog with its paws on the straw-seated chair, and the bowl on the seat. Through the ageing process, pentimenti reveal the original version. Traces of emendations can be distinguished at the ends of the angel Raphael’s wings, and there are slight variations in the tip of the angel’s thumb and the forefinger of the young Tobit.

DUCKE Astrid: Knoller Martin, The healing of old Tobit, in: DUCKE Astrid, HABERSATTER Thomas, OEHRING Erika: Masterworks. Residenzgalerie Salzburg. Salzburg 2015, p. 100