The Incredulity of Thomas?
A famous Rubens painting at the KMSKA is known as The Incredulity of Thomas. This title is widely used, yet the apostle Thomas is nowhere to be seen!
BY KOEN BULCKENS
Artists only began giving titles to their works in the 19th century. Before that, inventories, contracts, and letters referred to artworks based on the subject depicted, often a biblical or mythological story. For a large number of older artworks, no contemporary description exists. In such cases, art historians try to determine which text inspired the artist and propose a title based on their findings. For well-known themes, this is usually straightforward, but in some cases, identifying the subject is more challenging.
Finger in the wound
On the central panel of this triptych, which hung in the funerary chapel of Nicolaas Rockox and his wife Adriana Perez in the Antwerp Minorite Church, Christ shows his stigmata to three astonished men. The composition was long known as The Incredulity of Thomas, a story from the Gospel of John (20:26-29). Christ appeared to the apostles, but one of them, Thomas, was absent at the time. He did not believe his colleagues when they told him about it. A week later, Christ appeared again, this time in Thomas’s presence. Thomas saw the stigmata, touched them, and recognized Christ, who then said to him: “Because you have seen me, you believe? Blessed are those who believe without seeing.”
For a long time, it was assumed that the young apostle in the foreground of Rubens’ painting was Thomas, but a crucial element of his story is missing. In all other known depictions of the doubting apostle, for example, Caravaggio’s famous painting, Thomas places his finger in the wound in Christ’s side.
Epitaph of Nicolaas Rockox and His Wife Adriana Perez - Peter Paul Rubens, KMSKA
Jesus’ favorites
Rubens therefore depicted a different episode. But which one? To find out, the apostles must be identified. The man in the center is certainly Peter: his round beard and facial features closely match traditional representations of him. For the other two apostles, Dutch art historian Mireille Madou proposed a new identification in 2017. The young man in the foreground is thought to be John. Rubens used the same model in Descent from the Cross, a commission in which the patron Rockox also played an important role. The man in the back is probably James, John’s brother. These three apostles were Christ’s favorites. They witnessed several of his miracles as well as his resurrection.
The New Testament does not mention an appearance of the risen Christ to John, Peter, and James alone. It is possible that Rubens had the first appearance to the apostles in mind, without Thomas, and depicted only the three main figures.
The risen Christ was a common subject in epitaphs. It symbolized the resurrection at the end of time. The patrons depicted on the side panels were meant to rise from the dead through their piety, just as Christ did.
This article previously appeared in the autumn issue of ZAAL Z.
