Dutch caravaggist Stom or Stomer worked in Italy. More than 150 paintings by his hand are known; this is one of the few signed works. Two scenes from the apocryphal Bible book Tobit are depicted. In the background, Tobias junior, with the help of his guardian angel Raphael, texts a dangerous fish from the water. In the foreground, they roast it over the fire, but retain the entrails. These come in handy later to drive out an evil spirit, as depicted in the Jan Steen painting ‘the wedding night of Tobias and Sarah’.