Scene af Tobias` historie 1826

Edvard Sonne made this drawing, *Scene af Tobias' historie*, in Denmark. The story of Tobias comes from a book included in the Catholic and Orthodox Old Testament but regarded as apocryphal by Protestants. As such, Sonne's choice of subject matter speaks to the cultural context of 19th-century Denmark, where religious identity was a fraught issue. Sonne was raised in a Christian environment, and his religious upbringing may well have influenced his artistic choices. The image shows a biblical scene in which Tobias returns home. We see a young man embracing a woman while others look on. Sonne's image is rooted in the tradition of history painting, which was a major part of the curriculum at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where Sonne trained. This pedagogical background shaped Sonne's artistic output. To understand this work better, further research into the religious and artistic climate of 19th-century Denmark would be fruitful. The social and institutional context in which Sonne worked shaped the meaning of his art.