When you stand in front of the Saint-Pierre Cathedral at Poitiers, you will see that the right hand portal of the façade tells the story of “doubting Thomas.” One of the original twelve apostles, Thomas – also called Didymus, or the twin – was a fisherman in Galilee; after the Resurrection he is initially unwilling to believe that the crucified Jesus returned. Jesus comes to him and has him touch his wounds from the Cross, whereupon Thomas doubts no more. As you look up at the tympanum, read the scene from bottom to top, and from left to right. A group of eight angels surrounds the story. On the bottom section of the tympanum are three groups of three personages, representing scenes from the Life of the Apostle Thomas. The scene on the left shows his incredulity at the tale of the Resurrection of Christ. In the middle, Christ appears and tells Thomas to put his hand on his wounds, to see for himself that it was He who was on the cross, while in the right-hand group Saint Peter, Saint Andrew and an unidentifiable apostle look upon Thomas and Jesus. Above them the undulating lines represent clouds, separating the lower earthly scenes from the upper heavenly ones. There we encounter one of the more fascinating pieces of the legend of Saint Thomas: a palace in the heavens.
According to the Golden Legend a man named Abanes, the provost of Gondoforus, King of India, having been sent to Cesaria by his royal master in search of an architect able to build a palace in the Roman fashion betook himself, divinely guided to Saint Thomas, who accompanied him back to India and drew for the King the plan of a superb mansion. The happy Gondoforus gave Thomas much treasure to pay for the construction; then departed imprudently on a long journey. When the King returned after two years he found the palace not even off the ground, and all his treasure gone, distributed to the poor by the strange architect. The King proceeded to throw Thomas into prison, and sentenced him to be flayed alive and burnt to death. Before the execution could take place, however, the King’s dead brother came back to life, and appeared before Gondorfus and said: “the angels took me to Heaven where I saw such a wonderful house of gold and precious stones that I did greatly desire it. I was told that Thomas had built it for the King my brother but the King had become unworthy of it and that I might buy it of him. Therefore have I returned to earth.” Whereupon Gondoforus understood what Thomas had really done and refused to sell the house in Heaven for all his brother’s wealth; the King released Saint Thomas and did him great honor.
This work is an example of the many Romanesque and early Gothic sculptures and works of art that represented Biblical themes, without being based on stories actually found in the Bible. A number of apocryphal works provided stories which inspired sculptors and/or patrons alike. Jacob de Varagine’s 13th century compilation, The Golden Legend, brought together the most popular of these stories of saints. Here in Poitiers, it is through Thomas and Gondorfus, though their tale never made the Biblical Canon, that the battle between doubt and faith is most powerfully depicted. A testament to how widespread this was is in the fact that Thomas became known as the Patron Saint of architects, notwithstanding that his life story mentions no experience as a builder, mason, or architect.
Interestingly, while there is no evidence of Thomas being an architect, and the question of whether he ever went to India is debated, there was a 1st century AD King in India named (more or less) Gondorfus. He, Gundaphar, was a King of the Parthian dynasty which reigned in Punjab, and left behind coins and an inscription which attest to his name and reign. And at least in spirit, we can see he traveled to Poitiers: as far as we know, before anyone else from India ever did.