Tobias

A muscular, bearded man stands in a desolate landscape, leaning on a large spade used for grave-digging. In the background, several naked human corpses lie exposed on the ground, while a stone tomb sits behind the central figure. The scene illustrates an episode from the Book of Tobit where the protagonist performs the pious but dangerous duty of burying dead Israelites in Nineveh.

The Sadeler family of engravers were pivotal figures in the dissemination of Northern Mannerism and later became the dominant artists at the court of Rudolf II in Prague, a center for Western esotericism. This print illustrates a 'Work of Mercy,' but the story of Tobit also holds significance in the Western tradition for its association with the Archangel Raphael and the use of natural substances (fish gall and heart) for miraculous healing, themes that interested Renaissance natural philosophers.