Tobias anoints his father's eyes with fish bile. Engraving attributed to C.N.D. de Beauvais after S. Conca

Tobias anoints his father's eyes with fish bile. Engraving by C. Dubosc, c. 1725, after S. Conti.

The angel informs Tobias that the liver and heart of the fish will cure demoniac possession, while the gall will cure blindness. The fish had threatened to swallow Tobias (Tobit 6.2), but the writer tells us only that it was "a large fish"

The child plays with the dog which has served as a faithful companion throughout Tobias' voyage (Tobit 5.16)

Paris (Rue St. Jacques) : G[aspard] Duchange

1 print : line engraving ; image 30.6 x 41.4 cm

Tunc Tobias sumens de felle piscis oblinivit oculos patris sui. Alors Tobie prenant du fiel du poisson en frota les yeux de son pere. Cap 11. v. 13. Sebastiano Conty pinx. C.D.B.

"Sebastiano Conty pinx.": interpreted by Nagler, loc. cit., as Sebastiano Conca

The initials "C.D.B." appear in the lower right corner where the name of the engraver usually sits. The initials are interpreted by Nagler, loc. cit., as those of Charles-Nicolas-Dauphin de Beauvais, whose life dates are given by Nagler as 1688-1763. However, according to Marcel Roux, Inventaire du fonds français, op. cit., p. the lifedates 1687-1763 belong to Nicolas-Dauphin de Beauvais; Charles-Nicolas-Dauphin de Beauvais was his son, and lived from 1730 to 1783. The publisher of this print was Gaspard Duchange (1662-1757), of whom Nicolas-Dauphin de Beauvais was the son-in-law and Charles-Nicolas-Dauphin de Beauvais was the grandson. Chronologically, it is possible that the present print was engraved by Charles-Nicolas-Dauphin in the 1750s, at the beginning of his own career and towards the end of his grandfather's

G.K. Nagler, Die Monogrammisten, Munich 1860, vol. 1, p. 1015, no. 2447 ("CDB. Charles Nicolas Dauphin Beauvais, Kupferstecher, geb. zu Paris 1688, gest. 1763. Dieser Künstler hinterliess eine ziemliche Anzahl von Blättern, welche bei allen Mängeln auch ihre Vorzüge haben. Einige der früheren Stiche erschienen im Verlage seines Schwiegervaters C. Duchange. Mit den Initialen des Namens bezeichnet ist ein Blatt nach Sebastian Conca, welches den Tobias vorstellt , wie er das Gesicht wiedererhält. Paris, chez Duchange, gr. qu. fol. Auch andere Blätter mit CDB findet man.")

Not found in: Marcel Roux, Inventaire du fonds français, graveurs du dix-huitième siècle, Bibliothèque nationale, Département des estampes, Paris 1933, tome II, pp. 185-200 (inventory of works by Nicolas-Dauphin de Beauvais) or p. 201 (inventory of works by Charles-Nicolas-Dauphin de Beauvais)

Wellcome Collection 20902i