Pair of Apostles in Dispute

The individual apostles cannot be identified with the exception of Peter and John, who stand in the panel to the left of the Christ-Thomas grouping. The idea of presenting pairs of apostles in debate is borrowed from the bronze doors that Donatello created for the Old Sacristy at San Lorenzo, Florence. Signorelli borrowed not only some of the compositional features of Donatello’s reliefs but also specific iconographic details. Like Donatello, he depicts his apostles barefoot and draped in classical garments, eschewing any identifying attributes and even halos.