Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano, 'The Incredulity of Saint Thomas', about 1502-4
About the work
Overview
The rich colours of this large painting were designed to make maximum impact. Commissioned by a confraternity dedicated to Saint Thomas, it shows the moment that the doubting saint was convinced of Christ’s resurrection. We see him place his fingers in Christ’s wound, checking that Christ had indeed risen from the dead.
The confraternity’s accounts and minutes tell us a great deal about how the painting was made. The governing committee voted to commission an altarpiece for their altar in the church of San Francesco at Portogruaro, on the Venetian mainland, on 28 May 1497. Payments to Cima da Conegliano are recorded from 1502, though he may well have begun work on it before this.
In 1504 the altarpiece was reported as nearly ready but deliberately left unfinished by the artist as he had not been paid. It was completed and installed later that year, although Cima was still owed more than half his fee. He eventually resorted to legal action and wasn't paid in full until 1509.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
- Artist dates
- about 1459/60 - about 1517/18
- Date made
- about 1502-4
- Medium and support
- oil, originally on wood, transferred to canvas
- Dimensions
- 294 × 199.4 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1870
- Inventory number
- NG816
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 19th-century English Frame with Later Interventions
Provenance
The altarpiece remained until the nineteenth century in S. Francesco, Portogruaro; the church was demolished in 1828, and after its return from restoration in Venice, the picture was transferred in 1833 to S. Andrea, whence it was removed to the Town Hall in 1861. The joint owners were the Commune and the Hospital, from whom it was purchased in 1870.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1871J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in North Italy: Venice, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Ferrara, Milan, Friuli, Brescia, from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century, 2 vols, London 1871
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1893V. Botteon and A. Aliprandi, Ricerche intorno alla vita e alle opere di Giambattista Cima, Bologna 1893
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1894D. Bertolini, 'L'incredulità di San Tommaso', Arte e storia, XIII/18, 1894, pp. 137-40
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
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1965G. von der Osten, 'Zur Ikonographie des ungläubigen Thomas angesichts eines Gemäldes von Delacroix', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, XXVII, 1965, pp. 371-88
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1981L. Menegazzi, Cima da Conegliano, Treviso 1981
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1983P. Humfrey, Cima da Conegliano, Cambridge 1983
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1983J. Mills and R. White, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, VII, 1983, pp. 65-7
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1985M. Wyld and J. Dunkerton, 'The Transfer of Cima's "The Incredulity of S. Thomas"', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, IX, 1985, pp. 38-59
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1986J. Dunkerton and A. Roy, 'The Technique and Restoration of Cima's "The Incredulity of S. Thomas"', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, X, 1986, pp. 4-27
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1988J. Burckhardt, The Altarpiece in Renaissance Italy, ed. P. Humfrey, Oxford 1988
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1991J. Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven 1991
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1993P. Humfrey, The Altarpiece in Renaissance Venice, New Haven 1993
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1994F. Ames-Lewis (ed.), New Interpretations of Venetian Renaissance Painting, London 1994
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1994A.J. Martin, 'Cima da Conegliano: Convegno Internazionale di Studi. Conegliano, Palazzo Sarcinelli, 1-2 ottobre 1993', Kunstchronik, XLVII/6, 1994, pp. 310-25
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1996P. Humfrey, 'Altarpieces and Altar Dedications in Counter-Reformation Venice and the Veneto', Renaissance Studies, X/3, 1996, pp. 371-87
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1997D. Bomford, Conservation of Paintings, London 1997
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1999E. Baker (ed.), Contemporary Cultures of Display, New Haven 1999
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2001C. Furlan (ed.), Fabio di Maniago e la storiografia artistica in Italia e in Europa tra Sette e Ottocento, Udine 2001
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2005M. O'Malley, The Business of Art: Contracts and the Commissioning Process in Renaissance Italy, New Haven 2005
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2009J. Grave, 'Reframing the "finistra aperta". Venetian Variations on the Comparison of Picture and Window', Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, LXXII/1, 2009, pp. 49-68
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2009E. Ortis Alessandrini, 'Presenze di Cima da Conegliano a Portogruaro e nel Veneto Orientale', in A.M. Spiazzi and L. Majolis (eds), Tra Livenza e Tagliamento: Arte e cultura a Portogruaro e nel territorio concordiese tra XV e XVI secolo, Vicenza 2009, pp. 169-83
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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