Italian
Cassone, n.d.
Not on view
Partly gilded walnut
Dimensions31 × 77 × 26 in. (78.7 × 195.6 × 66 cm)
Gift of Viola E. Bray, 2005.125.2
The story of Tobias continues on this second cassone where it left off. In the scene on the far left, Tobias marries Sarah, even though she has been cursed by a demon that killed seven previous husbands (always abducted by the demon on their wedding night before the marriages could be consummated). Raphael instructs Tobias and Sarah to burn the heart and liver of the giant fish during prayer on their wedding night to make the demon flee Sarah. Confident in the angel Raphael’s protection, Tobias follows his instructions, thus freeing Sarah from the demonic curse. They return to Tobit as a family, and Tobias uses the fish’s gall to heal his father’s blindness. The angel Raphael is then revealed to all, and they see how they have been blessed by God.
