Detail of Tobit Burying the Dead by DiLione in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2023

Title: Tobit Burying the Dead

Artist: Andrea di Lione (Italian, Naples 1610–1685 Naples)

Date: 1640s

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 50 1/4 x 68 1/2 in. (127.6 x 174 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gwynne Andrews Fund, 1989

Accession Number: 1989.225

In the 1640s, the Neapolitan painter Andrea di Lione visited Rome, where he met Nicolas Poussin and Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, a painter famous for his imaginary architecture and pastoral landscapes. This work’s pronounced classicism—including the careful citation of ancient architecture and its blonde tonality—is indebted to these artists’ influence. The cloaked figure represents the Old Testament character Tobit. A devout Jew, Tobit defied an earthly decree by the local king requiring Jewish people to be buried outside the city walls in favor of divine law concerning respect for the dead.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436891