Madonna and Child with Tobias and the Angel Raphael

Botticini's Madonna and Child with Tobias and the Angel Raphael, painted around 1470, combines the standard devotional subject of the Virgin and Child with the popular story of Tobias guided by the Archangel Raphael from the Book of Tobit. This apocryphal tale was especially beloved in Florence, where the confraternity of the Archangel Raphael commissioned numerous paintings of the subject. The inclusion of Tobias suggests a commission connected to this confraternity or to a patron named Raphael.

The tempera-on-poplar technique produces the bright, clear colors and precise outlines characteristic of Florentine painting in the 1470s. Botticini's figural style reflects Verrocchio's influence in the angular drapery folds and the slightly mannered elegance of the angel's pose.