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Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 2, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000

Tobias and the Angel from the Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio: Introduction

Tobias and the Angel is recorded by the National Gallery, London as a painting by the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. The gallery dates it to about 1470-1475, identifies the medium as egg tempera on wood, and records the work under inventory number NG781.[1]

The painting shows Tobias walking with the Archangel Raphael. Tobias carries a gutted fish, Raphael holds the fish organs, and a small dog moves with them. The scene comes from the Book of Tobit, where Raphael guides Tobias and the fish becomes part of the story's healing and protective miracle.[1]

This is a careful attribution story, not a simple Verrocchio masterpiece story. The National Gallery records the work as workshop of Verrocchio rather than as a secure autograph painting by Verrocchio or Leonardo. Possible participation by Leonardo in the fish and dog has been suggested, but that suggestion remains cautious and limited.[1][2][3]

Attribution note: The National Gallery records this painting as Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. Leonardo's possible participation in the fish and dog remains a cautious proposal, not a settled attribution.

At a Glance

  • TitleTobias and the Angel
  • Artist lineWorkshop of Andrea del Verrocchio [1]
  • DateAbout 1470-1475 [1]
  • MediumEgg tempera on wood [1]
  • Dimensions83.6 x 66 cm [1]
  • Current locationNational Gallery, London, NG781 [1]
  • AcquisitionBought in 1867 [1]
  • SubjectTobias and Raphael from the Book of Tobit

Contents

  1. Why Tobias and the Angel Matters
  2. Object Facts and Attribution
  3. The Story of Tobias and Raphael
  4. Fish, Dog and the Leonardo Question
  5. Verrocchio's Workshop Practice
  6. Medium, Movement and Landscape
  7. Provenance and Exhibition History
  8. How to Look at the Painting

Why Tobias and the Angel Matters

Tobias and the Angel matters because it opens a window onto Verrocchio's workshop rather than presenting a single, isolated hand. The painting is charming, readable and intentionally modest in scale, yet its attribution history makes it one of the most useful works for understanding how Renaissance studio production could operate.

Verrocchio is celebrated above all as a sculptor, goldsmith and workshop master. His studio trained major painters, including Leonardo da Vinci, and the National Gallery's artist record stresses the importance of that Florentine workshop environment.[4] A picture like this one is therefore important less because it proves a single autograph style than because it shows how design, storytelling and execution could pass through a busy studio.

The painting also sits near other Verrocchio-related attribution questions. The Baptism of Christ at the Uffizi is officially connected with Verrocchio and Leonardo. Tobias and the Angel, by contrast, remains a National Gallery workshop attribution with possible Leonardo passages discussed cautiously. The distinction is essential.

Object Facts and Attribution

The National Gallery gives the artist line as "Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio" and dates the picture to about 1470-1475.[1] That wording matters. It does not mean "by Leonardo", and it does not convert the whole painting into a secure autograph work by Verrocchio. It identifies the object with the studio around him.

The medium, egg tempera on wood, also belongs to the technical world of Florentine panel painting. Tempera can give crisp edges, clear colours and careful surfaces, all of which suit the picture's devotional clarity. Tobias and Raphael are not set in a dramatic wilderness. They walk through a gently ordered landscape, carrying the signs of the story.

Attribution here depends on several different questions: who designed the composition, who painted the figures, who completed smaller naturalistic details, and how much the master's supervision shaped the finished result. Renaissance workshops rarely fit neatly into modern ideas of individual authorship. This painting is a good place to let that complexity remain visible.

The Story of Tobias and Raphael

The subject comes from the Book of Tobit. Tobias is sent by his father Tobit to recover money held at a distance. Raphael accompanies him in disguise, guiding and protecting him on the journey. Along the way, Tobias catches a fish, and Raphael instructs him to preserve its organs for healing and protection.

The fish becomes central to the story. Its organs help drive away a demon from Sarah and restore Tobit's sight. In the painting, the fish is therefore not an odd accessory. It carries the miracle within the image. Tobias holds the gutted fish, while Raphael holds the organs that will later prove powerful.[1]

The dog adds another note of companionship and journey. Together, Tobias, Raphael, the fish and the dog make the painting feel like a passage through the world rather than a static devotional emblem. The scene would have been legible to viewers familiar with Tobias as a model of guided travel, filial duty and divine protection.

Fish, Dog and the Leonardo Question

The fish and dog are the details most often drawn into the Leonardo discussion. The National Gallery states that it has been suggested Leonardo may have painted parts of the picture, especially the fish and the dog.[1] The Louvre's Leonardo material likewise notes that many historians have connected the naturalistic fish and dog with Leonardo.[3]

Those statements support caution, not certainty. The wording is possible and suggested, not proven. The painting remains a workshop of Verrocchio object in the National Gallery's catalogue. Leonardo can be part of the discussion without swallowing the whole work.

Technical observations have helped shape that discussion. National Gallery Technical Bulletin material notes the proposal that the dog and fish were added late and considers the evidence in relation to Leonardo's presence in Verrocchio's workshop.[2] Such evidence is valuable precisely because it keeps the argument attached to material facts rather than romance.

Verrocchio's Workshop Practice

Verrocchio's workshop trained artists who would become central to late fifteenth-century painting. The National Gallery artist record links him with Leonardo, Lorenzo di Credi and Pietro Perugino, among others.[4] A workshop like this was not only a place where assistants copied the master. It was a system for producing objects, teaching design and transferring skills.

In Tobias and the Angel, the unevenness of execution becomes part of the evidence. Some passages are more naturalistic and alert than others. The painting's value lies in that unevenness. It records a studio in motion, where assistants could carry out much of a composition while particular details attracted special attention.

This helps explain why Verrocchio's paintings are often attribution-sensitive. The studio could produce devotional panels, collaborative works, reused models and technical experiments. A careful reader follows the museum attribution line before jumping to a single famous name.

Medium, Movement and Landscape

The National Gallery identifies the medium as egg tempera on wood.[1] Tempera gives the picture a clear, controlled surface. The figures move across the panel with a calm rhythm, their garments and gestures keeping the journey easy to follow.

The landscape has a narrative role. It gives Tobias and Raphael room to travel. The path, water, plants and distant setting create a world through which divine guidance can appear ordinary. Raphael walks beside Tobias, not above him in a heavenly vision. The miracle is embedded in companionship.

This gentle movement also distinguishes the picture from Verrocchio's sculptural drama. In bronze, works such as Christ and Saint Thomas press outward through gesture and architectural setting. Here, the action is lateral and quiet. The story unfolds through walking, carrying and looking.

Provenance and Exhibition History

The National Gallery records the picture as formerly in the collection of Conte Angiolo Galli Tassi. It was bequeathed in 1863 to Tuscan medical institutions and bought from G. Baslini in Milan in 1867.[1] That acquisition history places the panel within the nineteenth-century movement of Renaissance works into major public collections.

The painting has also remained important to modern scholarship and exhibition history. It was included in the major Verrocchio exhibition shown at Palazzo Strozzi and the National Gallery of Art in 2019, and it appeared in the Louvre's Leonardo exhibition context in 2019-2020.[3][5]

Those exhibition contexts are useful because they show the dual identity of the painting. It belongs to Verrocchio's workshop world, and it also belongs to the history of questions around Leonardo's early formation. The two contexts need not be collapsed into one.

How to Look at the Painting

Start with the museum attribution. Read the work first as a product of Verrocchio's workshop. That frame lets the whole picture make sense before attention turns to individual passages.

Then follow the story. Tobias carries the fish, Raphael carries the organs, and the dog accompanies them. The objects are narrative signs. They point forward to healing, protection and the successful completion of Tobias's journey.

Next, compare the figures with the fish and dog. The discussion around possible Leonardo participation focuses on those naturalistic details, not on the entire painting. That distinction keeps the attribution careful.

Finally, connect the panel back to the studio. Tobias and the Angel is most revealing when seen beside Verrocchio's David, the Uffizi Baptism of Christ and the National Gallery's Verrocchio-related Virgin and Child paintings. Together they show a workshop where invention, teaching and collaboration were closely joined.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who painted Tobias and the Angel?
The National Gallery records the painting as by the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, not as a secure autograph work by Verrocchio or Leonardo.[1]
When was Tobias and the Angel made?
The National Gallery dates the painting to about 1470-1475.[1]
What is the medium?
The painting is egg tempera on wood.[1]
What story does the painting show?
It shows Tobias travelling with the Archangel Raphael. The fish and its organs refer to the healing and protective miracles in the Book of Tobit.
Did Leonardo paint the fish and dog?
It has been suggested that Leonardo may have painted those details, but the point remains cautious. The whole painting remains catalogued as workshop of Verrocchio.[1][2][3]
Why is Tobias and the Angel important?
It is important for understanding Verrocchio's workshop practice, early Leonardo attribution questions and the devotional appeal of Tobias and Raphael imagery in Renaissance Florence.

Discussion

Which part of this painting most changes how you read the attribution: the museum artist line, the fish and dog, the figures or the workshop setting?

Reader Insights

Close Looking

Look at the fish and dog after reading the whole scene. Their naturalism matters most when it stays attached to the painting's workshop attribution.

Context

The work belongs beside Verrocchio's painting questions, not apart from them. It shows collaboration as a normal studio condition.

Open Question

How much does a cautious possible Leonardo detail change the way you value a workshop painting?

Join the Conversation

Share the detail or source question that helps you read this attribution most clearly.

References

  1. National Gallery, London, Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, Tobias and the Angel, accessed 8 August 2026.
  2. National Gallery Technical Bulletin, Leonardo in Verrocchio's Workshop: Re-examining the Technical Evidence, accessed 8 August 2026.
  3. Musee du Louvre, Leonardo da Vinci exhibition material, Tobias and the Angel, accessed 8 August 2026.
  4. National Gallery, London, Andrea del Verrocchio, artist record, accessed 8 August 2026.
  5. National Gallery Technical Bulletin, In Search of Verrocchio the Painter, accessed 8 August 2026.