The apostle who became an island

Saint Thomas here is a landmass in the Caribbean, named centuries ago and carrying the name ever since. Of the 14 titles in this collection containing Saint Thomas, 4 refer to this island and the rest to men — the apostle, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas of Villanueva. The distinction cannot be made from the name alone, only from the rest of the title, and it is the clearest reminder in this collection that a saint's name in a catalogue field is not evidence of a saint in the picture.

What the record holds

The catalogue dates the work to 1855 and gives Private Collection as its location. The dimensions are 23.9 x 30.5 cm — very small, and wider than tall. It is filed under Landscapes with Forest as a subheading, under Botanicals with Tree, and under Cultural Heritage; the style is Realism and the nationality French. The measured colour families are yellow and green.

An early date in a long career

1855 places this among the earliest works this collection holds by an artist better represented here by later ones: 28 entries carry his name in total. What the record establishes is a small landscape, made in the Antilles, filed under a saint's name for reasons that have nothing to do with religion — and everything to do with who was drawing charts in the sixteenth century.