Vessel to flesh
Doubt, alongside curiosity, can be considered the core of science. It is an iconic biblical moment. Thomas puts his finger into Christ’s side to feel if the wound is real. He wants to see evidence that the man standing before him really has risen from the dead. In art this subject, formally termed The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, has been common since at least the early 6th century. In the context of Christianity, the apostle Thomas is often cited as the epitome of a sceptic who refuses to believe in the resurrection of Christ until he has proof by experiment.
Objects of importance to the conduct of the liturgy, according to the Catholic Church, cannot be stripped of their religious status and should be destroyed if they no longer have a religious purpose or function. The artist transformed a disused, orphaned and roaming chalice into a new, contemporary image of Saint Thomas - by melting it down and giving the material a new life as a sculpture with religious significance.
The finger that touches the side wound spawns a sprout that literally emerges from doubt and figuratively makes a connection between the origin of life and the growth of knowledge and science. The young shoot invites one to reconsider man’s position in the world and to critically re-examine the worldview in which part of humanity thinks itself to be “the crown of creation”. By extension, the artist touches on the societal discourse on binary gender division and gender inequality that are partly motivated by a centuries-old patriarchal-oriented image of God. The image not only embodies doubt, but simultaneously sows doubt about issues that are assumed to be (un)true in the present.
Exhibition view, in combination with The Incredulity of Thomas, Hendrick ter Brugghen, c. 1622, Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. De Schepping van de Wetenschap/ The Creation of Science (from 22 February to 2 June 2024) in Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht.
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Vessel to flesh
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Vessel to flesh