The Archangel Raphael refusing Tobias's gift

A preparatory study for one of Biliverti’s most celebrated and accomplished compositions, The archangel Gabriel refusing Tobias’s gift painted in 1622 and now in the Galleria Palatina at Palazzo Pitti, Florence (Fig. 1; inv. 1890 no. 8436). Hailed as the artist’s masterpiece, the painting was recorded by Baldinucci in the Florentine house of Giovanni Cerretani and is known today in two autograph replicas in the Museo del Prado, Madrid and the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg. Recording an early idea for his iconic painting, this vibrant study in red chalk sets the scene against a monumental arched window, whereas in the final work the action takes place in a more neutral open space, with figures arranged in reverse order. Far more evident in the drawing is the figures’ dynamism, which Biliverti enhanced through flowing lines in red chalk and bold strokes of red wash, a technique derived from his master Ludovico Cardi, il Cigoli (1589-1613). The sheet was recognized as a work by Biliverti by Jonathan Richardson, who annotated the verso of the sheet with an excerpt from the artist’s biography by Pellegrino Orlandi (1763).

Fig. 1. Giovanni Biliverti, The Archangel Gabriel refusing Tobias’s Gifts, Florence, Palazzo Pitti