It is part of a series of altarpieces, of equal size, commissioned to embellish the Church of the Immaculate Conception at the Castle, built by the Confraternity of the same name in the mid 18th century.
The artistic composition depicts an episode from the famous story of Tobias, contained in the biblical book of the same name. Leaning to the right is the Archangel Raphael, in the guise of an anonymous traveller, as indicated by the elements that characterise him: the typical stick with hook, the saddlebag on his shoulder and the shells on his cloak.
Leaning to the left instead is the young Tobias, immediately after being attacked by a large fish, as he receives the Angel’s instructions. This is how the biblical book tells it: The angel said to him: “Grab the fish and do not let it escape”. The boy managed to grab the fish and pull it to shore. Then the angel said to him: “Open the fish and take out the gall, the heart and the liver; put them aside but throw away the intestines. For its gall, heart and liver can be useful medicines’.
Dedicated to the archangel Raphael, there is also a small church on Lipari, in the locality of Madoro, now almost in ruins, located on an old mule track next to an ancient drinking trough, once fed by a nearby spring.
