# The Angel Departing from the Family of Tobit (?)

**Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione** (Italian, 1609–1664)  
c. 1655  
Red oil paint on ivory laid paper  
41.9 × 54.6 cm (16 1/2 × 21 1/2 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1966.34. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/24932).

## About this work

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione painted this in about 1655, aged about 36. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of red oil paint on ivory laid paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/giovanni-benedetto-castiglione)

Italian, 1609–1664; born in Genoa; died in Mantua

Castiglione, nicknamed Il Grechetto, trained in his native Genoa and worked in Rome before becoming court painter to the Gonzaga in Mantua. He painted pastoral journeys of the patriarchs crowded with animals and vessels, but his most original work is on paper: he invented the monotype, painting an image on a plate and pressing it onto a sheet, and made bold drawings with a brush loaded with oil paint. His etchings show the influence of Rembrandt.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawing and Watercolor
- Culture: Italy
- The artist was about 36
- Real size: about 16 × 21 in (41 × 54 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 17th century
- Movement: [Baroque](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/baroque)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/105.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/105/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-angel-departing-from-the-family-of-tobit-aic-24932).