The Wedding feast of Tobias and Sarah thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

The Wedding feast of Tobias and Sarah

Panel
ca. 1600 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This panel shows a scene from the Old Testament story of Tobias and the Angel. Here Tobias, with his faithful dog, celebrates his marriage to Sarah. Each of her previous seven husbands had been destroyed by a demon, who in turn had been defeated by the combined forces of Tobias and the Archangel Raphael.

It illustrates one of the new techniques for decorating glass that were introduced in the mid 16th century. Glassmakers used paints known as 'enamels' to paint directly onto the glass, similar to painting onto a canvas. The colours were produced by adding metallic oxides to a ground glass (frit) mixture. The resulting wide colour range included the delicate pinks, yellows, greens, reds and purples shown here.

Christoph Murer (1558-1614) was a distinguished Swiss glass painter. He produced numerous designs for stained glass windows, including a series based on Tobias and the Angel that includes this panel.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Wedding feast of Tobias and Sarah (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Stained glass
Brief description
Panel of clear and coloured glass painted with enamels and silver stain. Depicting an event from the Book of Tobit (the wedding feast of Tobias and Sara). Swiss, painted by Lorenz Lingg, early 17th century
Physical description
Panel depicting the wedding feast of Tobias and Sara. Inscription missing from above and replaced by an insertion. Below, a shield and the inscription "H. Hans Flach zum Schoffel erwolt Anno 1604".
Dimensions
  • Height: 35.0cm (Note: unframed)
  • Width: 23.5cm
Credit line
Purchased with funds from the Murray Bequest
Production
Designed by Murer but probably executed in South Germany, perhaps Ulm.
Subjects depicted
Literary reference<u>Book of Tobit</u>
Summary
This panel shows a scene from the Old Testament story of Tobias and the Angel. Here Tobias, with his faithful dog, celebrates his marriage to Sarah. Each of her previous seven husbands had been destroyed by a demon, who in turn had been defeated by the combined forces of Tobias and the Archangel Raphael.

It illustrates one of the new techniques for decorating glass that were introduced in the mid 16th century. Glassmakers used paints known as 'enamels' to paint directly onto the glass, similar to painting onto a canvas. The colours were produced by adding metallic oxides to a ground glass (frit) mixture. The resulting wide colour range included the delicate pinks, yellows, greens, reds and purples shown here.

Christoph Murer (1558-1614) was a distinguished Swiss glass painter. He produced numerous designs for stained glass windows, including a series based on Tobias and the Angel that includes this panel.
Collection
Accession number
C.567-1921

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJuly 16, 2002
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest