The incredulity of Saint Thomas

The Risen Christ appears to his disciples when one of them is absent. Upon learning of the visit from his companions, Thomas is incredulous, which prompts a second apparition of Jesus, which we see depicted in this panel. "Put your finger here, and see my hands," the Lord tells him, showing where the nails of the crucifixion had pierced him. "Put your hand here, and put it into my side," he insists. Thomas obeys and is convinced, but then Jesus rebukes him: "Because you have seen me, O Thomas, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed." The panel depicting this scene is displayed in the Painting Room Under the Cloister and is the work of the Valencian Alonso Sánchez Coello, a distinguished portraitist at the court of Philip II. Coello trained in Flanders, but was also influenced by Italian masters. The chromaticism of the panel is dominated by acidic and iridescent colors, greens, yellows, reds, pinks and blues, characteristic of the author's mannerism.