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Caravaggio, 'Doubting Thomas', 1601-2



My eye is not drawn, unlike most people's, to the finger probing Christ's chest, but to a more insignificant detail. The viewer can tell that this is an astonishing scene by the hole in Jesus' side but also by the way Caravaggio has drawn the other men in the painting. I instantly notice the lines on their foreheads, all mirroring one another. The delicacy of these lines highlight how shocking and unbelievable this scene is. This man is supposed to be dead. They all witnessed it happening. These lines on Thomas' forehead are so many that they are virtually melting into his hairline, so deeply etched they look like a ribcage. And as the viewer, I find myself mirroring his expression without thinking about it. I am as surprised as if I were the one prodding the son of God. 

Caravaggio was a master when it came to chiaroscuro. The over exaggerated shadows on Christ's drapery are a good example of this, amplifying the casual folds of the cloth. All of the shadows are heightened by the dark background Caravaggio decides to set the figures on, also increasing the three dimensional aspect of the piece with a stage spotlight. One of the reasons my eye is drawn to the lines on the men's foreheads is because of the dramatic use of light: that sheen of smooth, taut skin above the wrinkles. It's almost as though if you zoomed in on this painting with a modern camera, you would be able to see the beads of perspiration on Thomas' forehead. 

But the lines tell us something else: these are ordinary men witnessing something extraordinary. Caravaggio has also highlighted this ordinariness through the light on Thomas' shoulder, which shows a rip in his clothing. There is nothing divine about this situation, it just looks like a group of men and if the one on the left did not have a hole in his side we would not necessarily know that was Jesus.There are no halos or any traditional signs that this is Christ. All of the men are dressed plainly, as if Caravaggio has just picked a bunch of people off the streets to model from. The rip mirrors the tear in Christ's flesh, making the divine human and the human divine.

As well as pioneering tenebrism, Caravaggio used unusual compositions to dramatic effect. Here we are crammed into a tight diamond with the four heads almost knocking into each other. The dark background throws the figures forward, so that the curved fingers of Christ's hand and Thomas' dirty nails push into our world. Unnecessary extras are simply cut off. This is a picture about faith and faith is a simple thing. Doubt is the darkness in the background but these men have come into the light.

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