The Healing of Tobit (verso) (c. 1630s): Art, History and Details

The Healing of Tobit (verso) (c. 1630s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Ferdinand Bol (Dutch, 1616–1680).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Ferdinand Bol was one of the most prominent pupils and followers of Rembrandt van Rijn, for whom drawing played a central role in his workshop practice and teaching. This image of a man within a darkened interior before a window—perhaps a scholar or philosopher—is similar to compositions of saints as well as portraits that Rembrandt made in the 1630s and 1640s. Bol was quite interested in the theme, portraying similar figures in at least two paintings, ten drawings, and four etchings. Like Rembrandt, he employed an expressive but controlled use of ink wash, emphasizing the psychological interiority of the sitter with dramatic shading. The verso (back) of the drawing features a quick sketch by Bol after another of Rembrandt’s compositions, Tobit Healing his Father’s Blindness, 1640-45, held today in the CMA’s collection (1969.69).

Object facts

• Title: The Healing of Tobit (verso)
• Date: c. 1630s
• Creator attribution: Ferdinand Bol (Dutch, 1616–1680)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: pen and brown ink (verso)
• Dimensions: Sheet: 18 x 15.7 cm (7 1/16 x 6 3/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - Dutch
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2025.142.b

A detail from the museum

Ferdinand Bol’s subtle and controlled use of ink wash reveals a large trunk on the floor, while retaining bright highlights on the figure, book, and globe on the windowsill.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.