Tobias en zijn vader willen de engel betalen 1601 - 1652

This is an engraving, date unknown, by an anonymous artist, depicting Tobias and his father wanting to pay the angel. The composition is structured within a circle, a classical form suggesting completeness and enclosure. The scene presents a balanced yet dynamic arrangement of figures. The angel, positioned on the left, extends a hand towards Tobias, creating a diagonal line that bisects the composition, leading the viewer's eye from the divine to the human realm. The artist uses line and form to construct a narrative moment - the offer of payment. The structure seems to undermine conventional ideas of reward and reciprocity; it appears to challenge the expected transactional relationship between humans and the divine. Instead, the work invites us to think about the relationship between the earthly and heavenly, not as an economic exchange, but as an offering. The circular border containing text frames the image and reinforces a sense of conceptual closure, yet this closure is constantly deferred as we continue to interpret its meanings.