Description
This small panel portrays Saint Thomas holding a red book while raising his other hand in a restrained gesture. A Latin inscription identifies the apostle against the gilded ground. His youthful features and sideways glance suggest a dialogue with the figures that once accompanied him.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art attributes the painting’s execution to Simone Martini’s workshop, following designs by the master. It belonged to a dispersed group of ten apostles. Scholars still debate whether the panels formed a predella or an upper tier of an altarpiece.
The raised hand allows viewers to imagine a dialogue, but that suggestion should not be confused with the depiction of a specific event. Thomas is identified as an apostle through his inscription and book; this panel does not illustrate the encounter with the risen Christ.






