Description
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas , painted around 1601–1602 , depicts the moment when the Apostle Thomas physically verifies the wounds of the resurrected Christ. Christ exposes the wound in his side and guides the Apostle's hand, allowing his finger to enter it. Two other disciples lean forward and closely observe the gesture. Caravaggio compresses the four figures into an extremely confined space, virtually eliminating any description of the setting.
The arrangement of the heads and their gazes leads directly towards Christ's wound, the visual and narrative centre of the composition. Strong illumination emphasizes the faces, hands and Christ's torso against the dark background. The Gospel presents Thomas's doubt as a problem of knowledge: the apostle wishes to examine what the others claim to have witnessed.
