The archangel known by his company

Michael is identified by armour, Gabriel by a lily, and Raphael by neither — he is recognised by the people he travels with. Raphael's identification in Western painting runs through the Book of Tobit: a young traveller, a fish, a dog, and a road. This entry's title names the archangel, the family and the moment — the leave-taking that closes that story, when the guide reveals what he is and departs.

What the record holds

The catalogue dates the work to 1637 and gives Rembrandt, a Dutch painter, with two style terms: Baroque and Tenebrism. It measures 52 x 66 cm — a small panel by the standards of an altarpiece, sized to be looked at closely. The measured colour families are brown and yellow. The recorded location is the Louvre in Paris.

Why a departure and not an arrival

Most angelic scenes in painting are entrances: an announcement, a rescue, a visitation. Tobit's story ends with the opposite gesture, and that is what fixes Raphael's function in the hierarchy. His office is escort — accompaniment for the length of a journey — and an escort's role is complete only when it ends. Tenebrism, the second style term the record gives, names a way of building an image out of darkness with light admitted narrowly; on a departure it leaves the question of who is lit and who is left behind.