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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Nicola Pisano, 'Adoration of the Magi', Pisa Baptistery Pulpit Panel

In this complex, lively, exciting pulpit panel the eye looks up towards the monumentality of the Virgin, who commands this scene. She is massive and powerful, the largest figure with thick swathes of drapery delineating her forcefully protruding knees out into the viewer's space. Seated but still retaining dominance, she defines the classicising style of Nicola Pisano, witnessed throughout the panels of his pulpit in Pisa. Many writers have described the style - Eloise Angiola for instance, refers to the 'sophisticated understanding of classical prototypes to create heroic human forms' in Nicola's pulpit. Certainly in Pisa the prominent debris from the classical past remained visible and Nicola easily had access to various ancient sarcophagi for direct emulation here. The Virgin's features with her serene expression and curled hair beneath the mantle are in fact quite androgenous. She quickly assumes the position of a monumental Roman Emperor or Senator commanding

Marianne von Werekin, 'Sunrise', 1920

An endless line of men that tug the rope of a small boat soon disappear into murky, burning red waters beyond. Colour is fantastical, mystical and otherworldly, producing an atmosphere far from reality. This is the Symbolist work of Marianne von Werefkin, part of the German Expressionists that worked in Munich from the 1910s. A movement so often dominated by the male names of the time – Kandinsky especially – Werefkin was a vital participant, expanding the range of art produced and displayed, complementing her work with art theory and written sources, as well as creating her own Salon upon her arrival in Munich. It is easy to get lost in biography with a piece such as this. Wasted, human potential seems to be at the heart of this work, signalled by the endless line of men pushing forward towards the edge of the picture plane. There is a sense of struggle and a universality to the suffering through the portrayal of faceless men in similar blue tones. Looking at the date produced of 19

Mark Rothko, 'Light Red over Black', 1957

My eye is not drawn to the painting itself but the title of the painting, 'Light Red Over Black'. We would automatically think that the black is on top of a red background, but Rothko has flipped this around, subverting the title just like he subverting the meaning of what it was to be an artist and what Art actually was. During this time, art was going through rapid changes, with abstract expressionism coming into full force (Rothko, Pollock). But Rothko showed that all this change was for the good, even if for him, it was short lived. The colour red in this painting is searing and the black struggles to fully cover this velvety border, especially at the bottom of the canvas. Unlike the black squares which have a hazy quality to their edges, the red is clear and impregnable. It is hard to figure out what this represents - the Tate has suggested a window perhaps, but if it is a window then what are we looking out into? Perhaps it is night, or perhaps the viewer is catching a

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