Visual Analysis of Tobias and the Angel
James Lamberg
Visual Analysis of Tobias and the Angel
The Neapolitan artist, Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, painted Tobias and the Angel in 1622. It is a large and commanding work of art that immediately catches the eye and captivates the viewer. Upon standing in front of the painting, the viewer can’t help but become a part of the dramatic action occurring between its subjects. Caracciolo employs many elements to achieve this enthralling effect in the painting. These elements include near true to life scale, incredible depiction of emotion on the subjects faces, a heavy front weighted composition with almost no receding background, and strong lines that draw the viewer in and around in an closed triangular path. Tobias and the Angel is one of the larger pieces in the gallery, Even though the canvas is so large, Caracciolo has only placed three figures upon its surface because of the scale he has used. One man, presumably the angel with a halo atop his head and a staff in his left hand, stands tall over the other man, presumably Tobias, who lays sprawled on the ground grasping, the third figure, a giant fish, and looking up at the angel. Caracciolo has painted these subjects in near true to life scale. This scaling makes it very easy for the viewer to relate to the subjects spatially. Viewing the human figure at actual scale makes the scene feel as if it is actually occurring in front of you. It forces you into the scene rather than allowing you to stand and observe from outside it. Painting at this scale also allowed Caracciolo to depict the figures with beautifully realistic detail. This realistic detail is apparent in Tobias’s muscularity, the beautiful shine of the wet skin of the fish, and the texture of the wrinkled cloth that the figures are wearing, but it is the detail in the characters faces that proves to have the most powerful effect on the viewer. This attention to detail that Caracciolo has bestowed upon the two human faces is truly
Visual Analysis of Tobias and the Angel
The Neapolitan artist, Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, painted Tobias and the Angel in 1622. It is a large and commanding work of art that immediately catches the eye and captivates the viewer. Upon standing in front of the painting, the viewer can’t help but become a part of the dramatic action occurring between its subjects. Caracciolo employs many elements to achieve this enthralling effect in the painting. These elements include near true to life scale, incredible depiction of emotion on the subjects faces, a heavy front weighted composition with almost no receding background, and strong lines that draw the viewer in and around in an closed triangular path. Tobias and the Angel is one of the larger pieces in the gallery, Even though the canvas is so large, Caracciolo has only placed three figures upon its surface because of the scale he has used. One man, presumably the angel with a halo atop his head and a staff in his left hand, stands tall over the other man, presumably Tobias, who lays sprawled on the ground grasping, the third figure, a giant fish, and looking up at the angel. Caracciolo has painted these subjects in near true to life scale. This scaling makes it very easy for the viewer to relate to the subjects spatially. Viewing the human figure at actual scale makes the scene feel as if it is actually occurring in front of you. It forces you into the scene rather than allowing you to stand and observe from outside it. Painting at this scale also allowed Caracciolo to depict the figures with beautifully realistic detail. This realistic detail is apparent in Tobias’s muscularity, the beautiful shine of the wet skin of the fish, and the texture of the wrinkled cloth that the figures are wearing, but it is the detail in the characters faces that proves to have the most powerful effect on the viewer. This attention to detail that Caracciolo has bestowed upon the two human faces is truly