*Sacred Scripture* Tobias Receiving His Father’s Blessing – Bouguereau

The Archangel Raphael stands by while the youth Tobias receives a blessing from his blind father, Tobit, before setting off to find a cure for Tobit. The mother of Tobias weeps at her son’s departure. Artwork by W. Bouguereau.

Tobias Receives his Father’s Blessing

Tb 5:17

17Tobit said, “Blessing be upon you, brother.” Then he called his son and said to him: “Son, prepare whatever you need for the journey, and set out with your kinsman. May God in heaven protect you on the way and bring you back to me safe and sound; may his angel accompany you for your safety, son.”

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/tobit/5

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

William Bouguereau was a phenomenal painter who at one time presented the most captivating oil and canvas product of that time, Tobias Receives his Father’s Blessing.

Just like almost all of his numerous paintings that went ahead to earn him a spot in the painters’ hall of fame, Tobias Receives his Father’s Blessing was a life-size painting.

Its original size was 153 cm long and had a width of 119 cm. It was conceptualized, painted and presented to the then studios in the year 1860.

It went on to populate his lush fantasy world which featured a good number of his similar themed paintings. Most of the paintings reflected his Christian essence and Greek Heritage.

He also seemed to be of liberal ideals as he painted several life-size images that seemed to exalt the peasant life and pacify the idea of social class seclusion.

Other traits that featured in some of the William Bougeureau set pieces of the era between 1825 and 1905 featured mythological creatures, peasants, nobles, angels, and children.

In the painting, Tobias Receives his Father’s Blessing, the skills of William Bougeureau as a supreme craftsman with an intimate understanding of the human anatomy scream for attention and acknowledgment.

He seamlessly made use of a pleasantly gory blend of subtle and blatant color nuances to bring out the mixed feelings that are evoked by the act of a father blessing a son.

The mixed feelings presented by the painting among the four different personas are obvious from the expressions they have on their visage. The color scheming was an extra stylistic device employed ingeniously by the genius painter.

Again, William Bougeureau managed to capture personal nuances in his painting personas, their still but lifelike interactions, and mood. He manages to bring life to the subjects in his painting and pass strong messages to the people via the painting.

It was accomplishments like this that made William Bougeureau enjoy intense and passionate following from his students. The painting, Tobias Receives his Father’s Blessing, served its own purpose as well as adding immense value to the other 800 paintings. Reproductions of his work have been done ever since, and those done by respectable painters fetch exuberant prices.

Saying the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always.