Kárpáti Zoltán - Liptay Éva - Varga Ágota szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 101. (Budapest, 2004)

JÚLIA TÁTRAI: The Return of Barent Fabritius's Sacrifice of Manoah to Hungary

47. Barent Fabritius, St. Peter in the House of Cornelius, Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum At this point it is worth taking a brief digression into the relationship between the angel fragment and Vincent van Gogh. The collection of the London dealer, David P. Sellar, in which Bredius saw the angel, was auctioned off in Paris on 6 June 1889. In the sale catalogue the work is attributed to Rembrandt, and is described as his first study for the work The Angel Departing from the Family of Tobias, with the angel identified as Raphael the Archangel. The description in the catalogue was illustrated with an etching by the Parisian graphic artist Charles Courtry (1846-1897) (fig. 48). Vincent van Gogh's brother, Theo, was present at this auction and admired the angel, sharing the experience with his brother in a letter: "The other day a sketch by Rembrandt was sold at a public auction; I wish you could have seen it. It is the figure of the Angel Gabriel, standing, as he is in the heaven of his etching The Annunciation to the Shepherds'. What a marvel! The colour has remained quite clear; perhaps originally it was all yellow. The shadows were much more coloured than was his habit, and were probably a very pronounced blue, green and violet, but the general effect and the harmony are exquisite."

12 Vincent wrote in response, "I should have very much liked to 12 The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh, trans. J. van Gogh-Bongcr, ed. R. Harrison, London 1991, vol. 3, 544, no. T10 (written 16 June 1889 in Paris).