The Return of Tobias

This drawing is a preparatory study in reverse for a series of etchings that illustrate the History of Tobit from the Old Testament. Here the young son Tobias, accompanied by his faithful dog, is shown being welcomes back by his family after a long journey in search of a cure for his blind father, Tobit. Moyaert's drawing style deliberately imitates the finished etching and so provides precise guidelines for the printmaker. The finished print shows slight differences from the drawing; an added tree and a wheelbarrow placed in the hands of the man in the background. These changes may have been made by the artist himself on the prinitng plate. The subject of Tobias would have ensured the print series a fairly wide market in the netherlands as the theme was often used by a family to commemorate a son's safe return from his travels.