Luca Signorelli, Doubting Thomas
Italian, 1477-1482
Loreto, Basilica of the Santa Casa
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“Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
(John 20:24-29)
When I was a child I always waited with some excitement for the Sunday after Easter when this quotation from John is read as part of the Gospel of the day. For a child, or even for an adult, there is a certain “yuck factor” about the scene. And we know how kids (or adults) are drawn to that “yuck factor”. The idea of putting your hand into someone’s side is, well, yucky.
Doubting Thomas from the Ramsay Psalter English, ca. 1275-1300 St. Paul in Lavanttal, Stiftbibliothek MS Cod.58/1 |
Secondly, the Gospel underlines the future of the church, already known by the time John wrote his Gospel at the end of the first century. It would be a church filled with those “who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29). And, that’s all of us during these nineteen hundred years.
During about one thousand of those nineteen hundred years numerous artists have imagined this moment. The images they have produced tend to fall into two separate iconographic types: (1) the moment of touch and (2) Thomas’ confession of belief. Though somewhat distinct types they interweave through time and every picture of the encounter between the Risen Jesus and Doubting Thomas has much in common.
In what might be characterized as the "Moment of Touch" type, Thomas stands more or less on the same level of Jesus. The body of Jesus is posed in such a way that it presents a virtual invitation to Doubting Thomas to touch His wounds.
Doubting Thomas from a Gradual German (Pruem), c. 986-1001 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 9448, fol. 43v |
Christ Appearing to the Disciples and Doubting Thomas from a New Testament French (North), 11th Century Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Arsenal 592, fol. 105 |
Doubting Thomas from a Lectionary Austrian (Salzburg), 1070-1090 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M 780, fol. 39v |
Doubting Thomas Psalter of Christina of Markyate English (St. Alban's), 1124-1145 Hildesheim, Dombibliothek |
Ham of Fecamp, Doubting Thomas from a Psalter French (Normandy), c. 1180 The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek MS KB 76 F 13, fol. 25r |
Anonymous, Doubting Thomas French, 14th Century Paris, Musée du Louvre |
Duccio. Incredulity of Thomas Italian, 1308-1311 Siena, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo |
Giovanni Battista Bertucci the Elder, Doubting Thomas with a Donor Presented by Saint Anthony of Padua Italian, c. 1500-1515 London, National Gallery |
In the second "type", which I am calling Thomas' "Confession of Faith", Saint Thomas is shown not only placing his finger into the wounds of Christ, but doing so while kneeling or at least shown with a knee bent, presumably on the way to fully kneeling. This is the visual rendering of the moment when Thomas says "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).
Ivory Plaque, Doubting Thomas German, c. 1140-1160 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Doubting Thomas from Vita Christi English (East Anglia), c. 1190 Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum MS 101, fol. 89 |
Master Henri, Doubting Thomas from Livre d'images de Madame Marie Belgian (Hainaut), c. 1285-1290 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Nouvelle acquisition francaise 16251, fol. 47v |
Doubting Thomas from Sermons by Maurice de Sully Italian (Milan or Genoa), c. 1320-1330 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 187, fol. 13v |
Giovanni da Milano, Doubting Thomas Italian, c. 1365 Newark (DE), Alana Collection |
Jean Bondol, Doubting Thomas from Bible historiale by Guiard des Moulins French (Paris), c. 1372-1373 The Hague, Meermano Museum MS MMW 10 B 23, fol. 524v |
Alabaster Relief English, Late 14th Century London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
From about the beginning of the thirteenth century some pictures began to appear in which Christ no longer simply offers His wounded side for Thomas' touch, but grasps his hand to guide it into the wound.
Doubting Thomas from Psalter of St. Louis and Blanche of Castille French (Paris), ca. 1225 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Arsenal 1186, fol. 26 (detail) |
Jean Colombe, Doubting Thomas from Vita Jesu Christi by Ludolphe de Saxe French (Bourges), c. 1475-1500 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 179, fol. 186v |
Doubting Thomas Dutch, c. 1500 Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts |
In the Renaissance period and after artists have continued to imagine this events using all of these themes and adding reactions other than awe to the other disciples.
Verrocchio. Doubting Thomas Italian, 1476-1483 Florence, Orsanmichele |
Luca Signorelli, Doubting Thomas Italian, 1477-1482 Loreto, Basilica of the Santa Casa |
Sometimes the same artist used different "types" for different paintings, as did, for example, Cima da Conegliano.
Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano, Doubting Thomas Italian, c. 1502-1504 London, National Gallery |
Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano, Doubting Thomas with Bishop Magno Looking On Italian, c. 1505 Venice, Gallerie dell'Accademia |
Francesco Salviati, Doubting Thomas Italian, c. 1543-1547 Paris, Musée du Louvre |
Simon de Chalons, Doubting Thomas French, c. 1550 Paris, Musée du Louvre |
Maerten de Vos, Doubting Thomas Flemish, 1574 Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten |
Leandro Bassano, Doubting Thomas Italian, 1592-1594 St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum |
This image had an immediate impact on how this subject was presented and in the century after Caravaggio most painters took this image as the formative one for the subject, although most have not presented it with anything like this “in your face” intensity.
Some artists did experiment with alternate ways of presenting the story while retaining the Caravaggesque chiaroscuro style.
By the eighteenth century the influence of Caravaggio's great painting had diminished and artists began to draw back from this intense focus on the central action to present a more generalized image. They also revert back to the "Confession of Faith" type, rarely used during the seventeenth century, in which Thomas kneels or begins to kneel.
© M. Duffy, 2011, amended 2017
Hendrick Terbrugghen, Doubting Thomas Dutch, c. 1604 Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum |
Rubens, Doubting Thomas
Flemish, 1613-1615
Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten
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Guercino, Douibting Thomas Italian, 1621 London, National Gallery |
Anthony Van Dyck, Doubting Thomas Flemish, 1625-1626 St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum |
Wouter Pieterszoon Crabeth, Doubting Thomas Dutch, c. 1626-1630 Amsterdam, Riijksmuseum |
Rembrandt, Doubting Thomas
Dutch, 1634
Moscow, Pushkin Museum
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Simon Vouet, Doubting Thomas French, 1636 Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts |
Matthias Stom (or Stomer), Doubting Thomas Dutch, 1644-1649 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
Leendert van der Cooghen, Doubting Thomas Dutch, 1654 The Hague, Mauritshuis Museum |
Some artists did experiment with alternate ways of presenting the story while retaining the Caravaggesque chiaroscuro style.
Mattia Preti, Doubting Thomas Italian, c. 1656-1660 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum |
Carlo Carlone, Doubting Thomas Italian, c. 1750 Vienna, Belvedere Museum |
Franz Anton Maulbertsch, Doubting Thomas Austrian, c.1764 Vienna, Belvedere Museum |
Paul Baudry, Doubting Thomas French, 1850 La Roche-sur-Yon, Musée municipal |
© M. Duffy, 2011, amended 2017