A SPECIAL Renaissance painting is currently on display in Carmarthenshire.

Tobias and the Angel (about 1470-5) is an altar painting by the Workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, a leading artist in Renaissance Florence. He was mainly known as a sculptor but also trained painters in his workshop, including one of the world’s leading painters – Leonardo da Vinci.

Tobias and the Angel is believed to have been partially painted by da Vinci but this has not been proven.

The picture tells a story from the biblical book of Tobit. Tobias is a young boy sent to collect a debt by his elderly, blind father. God sends the Archangel Raphael to accompany the boy and his dog and along the way, Raphael instructs Tobias to catch a fish and advises him that the organs can be used to create an ointment to cure blindness and be burnt to drive away evil spirits.

On their journey, they visited Sarah, a cousin of Tobias. She had been married seven times but each time, a demon killed her husband before the wedding night. Tobias decided to marry her and end the curse. He burned the organs on the wedding night, which drove the demon away as was said by Raphael. He then returns home and cures his father’s blindness.

The painting is now able to be seen at Carmarthenshire Museum alongside a collection of items with the theme of folk healing and protection from evil spirits.

The painting is part of the National Gallery Masterpiece Tour which offers three non-London museums, galleries or art centres the opportunity to partner with the National Gallery for three years to display a different major artwork from its collection each year.

It is the final masterpiece tour exhibition at Carmarthenshire Museum after Chardin’s House of Cards (1740-1) and Rembrandt’s Saskia van Uylenburgh in Arcadian Costume (1635).

Cllr Hazel Evans, Carmarthenshire County Council’s cabinet member for regeneration, leisure, culture and tourism, said: “Our partnership with the National Gallery has allowed us to host three masterpieces at Carmarthenshire Museum, and I would encourage people of all ages to come and visit this exhibition, which is free of charge.

“I would like to thank the staff and volunteers that have put together this exhibition, as they have created a powerful display, connecting themes from Carmarthenshire’s rich folk history with a major Italian Renaissance artwork – two worlds that wouldn’t usually meet but can, through the extraordinary opportunity of partnering with the National Gallery.”

Tobias and the Angel is on display at Carmarthenshire Museum, Abergwili, until January 7, 2024. Admission to the museum is free.