The pursuit of truth and the Doubting Thomas in the art of early modern Italy:

This dissertation is an examination of the development of the imagery and meaning of the Doubting Thomas, which I argue became a visual paradigm of religious doubt and skepticism, empirical truth seeking, and justice during the Renaissance and Baroque periods (c. 1350-1615). Catalyzed first by Renaissance humanism, and later by the Protestant Reformation, skepticism colored the scientific, intellectual, artistic, and spiritual beliefs of this period and in many ways provided the basis for modern reasoning and the Enlightenment. By assessing the contextual circumstances of commissions like that of Andrea del Verrocchio's bronze Doubting Thomas, and Caravaggio's luminous painting of the same subject, this dissertation explores the connection between imagery and the issue of doubt in early modern Italy.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 354-382)by Erin Bena