Ferdinand Bol, like most of Rembrandt's known pupils, used the master's work as a source for his own. In this essay I explore Bol's use of a single figure, Tobit as he appears in Rembrandt's painting of 1637, The Angel Raphael Leaving Tobit and his Family (fig. 13.1). This scene represents the concluding moment in the story, recounted in the Apocryphal Book of Tobit, of Tobias's search for an ointment to cure his father, Tobit, of blindness. Tobias, who gains a wife, Sarah, and obtains the healing ointment, is aided in his quest by the angel Raphael, who only reveals his divine status at the last moment as he departs heavenward. Rembrandt depicts Tobit, aging and bearded, kneeling on the ground, his upper body supported by his arms and his head facing downward. The light that falls across him highlights his bowed arms and intertwined fingers. The unnatural position of Tobit's hands as they rest on the ground with interlaced fingers was plausibly explained by Roger Fry some ninety years ago when he suggested that Tobit had been kneeling in prayer when, surprised by Raphael's departure, he fell forward with his hands still clasped in prayer.

Bol adapted Rembrandt's Tobit for use in narratives other than those found in the Book of Tobit. He created two paintings during the first five years of his career as an independent artist, from about 1640 to 1645, in which this model played a large role.