RAFFAELLO Sanzio
(b. 1483, Urbino, d. 1520, Roma)

Madonna with the Fish

1512-14
Oil on canvas transferred from wood, 215 x 158 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Archangel Raphael is presenting the young Tobias to the Virgin enthroned in the centre. Tobias is holding a shining fish, with whose gall bladder he has, according to the story in the Old Testament, cured his father's blindness. St Jerome is on the right with a lion (his main attribute) and a magnificent book.

The work is believed to be by workshop assistants, including Francesco Penni and Giulio Romano. In 1813 the army of Napoleon brought the painting to France where it was transferred from the original wood panel to canvas.