“Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into my side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” – John 20:27
The above painting is one of my favorites. It’s “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas,” by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio, painted in 1602 in Rome.
Caravaggio is quite the character. He’s a spectacular artist. This article describes his style as “radical naturalism which combined close physical observation with a dramatic, even theatrical, approach to chiaroscuro, the use of light and shadow.” One of his contemporaries describes his personal character as follows, “after a fortnight's work he will swagger about for a month or two with a sword at his side and a servant following him, from one ball-court to the next, ever ready to engage in a fight or an argument, so that it is most awkward to get along with him.” He was an artist, all right. He was exiled for killing a man in a brawl.
The “radical naturalism” mentioned above manifests in some interesting ways in his work, which you can review here. A lot of his paintings have very visceral, or even violent subjects. A partial explanation of that he is working in Renaissance Italy, with work largely commissioned by churches on Biblical themes – and there are a lot of violent biblical stories. And, of course, he seems to have been a violent person in general.
But, man, look at the list! Amongst the “Baskets of Fruit” and portraits, you’ve got several crucifixions, “Boy Bitten by a Lizard,” “Tooth Puller,” two different “The Sacrifice of Isaac,” and two different pictures of Jesus’ flogging. Both of his pictures of St. Francis have a skull in them! He seems to have been particularly enamored of beheadings – there are two different paintings of David with Goliath’s head, three of the beheaded John the Baptist, one from the apocryphal book Judith with her in the act of beheading a guy, and Medusa’s chopped off head. Wow.
All this to say – Caravaggio has a thing for visceral paintings. And the above is no exception. It’s one of my favorites because it tells a little story in itself of how the scene described in the Bible might have happened.
The title is “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas” – but look at Thomas' expression (click on the picture to enlarge it). That isn’t doubt. Or at least, not the kind we normally associate with Thomas. It’s the “I can hardly believe this is happening to me” kind of doubt, as opposed to the “I don’t believe what you are telling me” kind that we normally associate with him.
Look at the expressions on the other disciples’ faces. Look how their heads are grouped together – they want to be as close as possible to the action.
Look at who is guiding Thomas’ hand. Jesus is holding his wrist, guiding his hand to the place where He was stabbed with a spear. Jesus' pierced hand is at the center of the painting. He is not just having Thomas touch the wound, but put his hand inside the wound, just like the verse says. This is the part of the painting that astounds me, and made the verse come alive for me in a new way. It’s as if Jesus made the invitation for Thomas to touch His wounds, and Thomas initially refused. And Jesus said, “No - you said you wanted to touch the wounds – so touch the wounds.”
Have you ever felt someone’s scar? Placed your hand on flesh that has been torn and then put back together? It sends shivers down your spine. It puts you in the moment - lets you imagine the hurt that person must have gone through in a unique way. Maybe that’s the expression on Thomas’ face. Thomas wasn’t there when Jesus received that wound. The disciples behind him weren’t there either. They had fled, and abandoned Jesus to die. Is Thomas imagining what it must have been like for his Lord? Is it that Thomas, from touching Jesus’ wounds, more than any of the other disciples, realized what it must have been like to die on the cross? And now, seeing Him alive, is that why he says, “My Lord and my God!”- ? It is at that moment that John has him express more than anyone else in the gospels has about who Jesus is.
Finally, look at Jesus’ face. Caravaggio has it in shadow, to symbolize that even at this most intimate moment, He is still unknowable to some degree. But His expression is not one of frustration, or anger. He wants Thomas to know – He wants Thomas to believe, and to understand exactly what has happened. He wants to erase any doubt that He is alive.
He still wants to do that.
“Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
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