Noli Me Tangere Scene

[Suyay Escarsega]

Nolime Tangere is one of the earliest works by Titian.

Christ appears to the Magdalen after the Resurrection to comfort her. At first she thinks he is a gardener; when she recognises him he tells her not to touch him - 'noli me tangere' (let no one touch me) - as told in the Gospels (John 20: 14-18). Elsewhere, the Bible records that Christ will soon ascend to heaven and send the Holy Spirit down to his followers: he does not want them to cling to his physical presence.

Mary Magdalen has just recognized Jesus by the tone of voice in which he calls out "Mary!' Titian shows the surge of emotion which casts her to the ground, an impulse just as quickly suppressed by Christ who draws back, speaking the words, Noli me tangere, 'Don't touch me." The painter has left out most of the references which traditionally help to identify the scene: there is no tomb, no herald angel. no halo, no standard marked with the cross in the hand of the resurrected Lord. Titian contents himself with placing a hoe in Jesus' hand, a reference to Mary's first mistaken impression of him (she mistook him for a gardener), and by placing in the woman's hand the now unneeded jar of ointment. Rather, the painter innovates by evoking the resurrection through the nakedness of Christ's body, covered only by the shroud in which he had been buried - a shroud whose white draping magnificently complements the red flow of Mary's garment. He accentuates the tension in the woman's movement and the closeness of the two people whose right hands would touch were it not for Christ pulling back in a subtle movement of refusal nuanced by the affectionate inclination of his torso bending over Mary Magdalen.

The atmosphere is that of the dialogue between the lover and the beloved in the Song of Songs: "I sought him whom my heart loves." Here Mary Magdalen finds the beloved she had lost only to be immediately asked to let him go again, to 'stop holding on to him" and to go back to his brothers to share with them the news that is to transform their lives (Jn 20: 18).

For Christ is just passing by. His dance like steps are directed towards the front of the painting, not towards Mary but towards us, the viewers. We thus find ourselves facing the Lord's approach, also invited to recognize him and to announce the joy of his resurrection.

The painting Noli me tangere (scene 25) by the Italian artist Duccio Di Buoninsegna is a masterpiece of medieval Christian art. The painting, which originally measures 51 x 57 cm, depicts the biblical scene in which the risen Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene in the garden of the tomb.

Duccio's artistic style is evident in the painting, which displays a smooth and detailed technique. The artist uses a palette of soft colors and earthy tones to create a serene and contemplative atmosphere. The composition of the painting is balanced and harmonious, with Jesus at the center of the scene and Mary Magdalene at his side.

One of the most interesting aspects of the painting is its history. The work was created in the 14th century for the Siena Cathedral, and was one of the first works of art to use the perspective technique. The painting was stolen in the 19th century and passed through several hands before being returned to the Siena Cathedral in 1919.

Another little-known aspect of the painting is its symbolism. The figure of Jesus represents the resurrection and eternal life, while Mary Magdalene symbolizes humanity redeemed by divine grace. The garden of the tomb represents paradise, and the flowers and plants in the garden symbolize renewal and eternal life.

In summary, the painting Noli me tangere (scene 25) by Duccio Di Buoninsegna is a masterpiece of medieval Christian art. Its smooth and detailed art style, balanced composition, and profound symbolism make it a fascinating and inspiring work of art.

In the New Testament's Gospel of John, chapter 20, verse 17, when Christ comes upon Mary Magdalene after he rises from his tomb, he says, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended/ to my Father" (King James Version). The Latin translation is noli me tangere, a phrase that became a trope in religious artworks that celebrate the life of Christ: the robed Jesus standing with a hand raised in beatific denial of Mary's longing as she stands close by, hands reachingtoward him but never coming into contact with his flesh.

And yet in an illustrated manuscript dating from the early 11th century that was commissioned by the Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim in the Holy Roman Empire, Mar y touches Christ's foot in the noli me tangere scene. It's an utter violation of the gospel's command. "This image is one of the few that has been studied [and it is] extremely unusual because this scene by definition is about not touching," says Jennifer P. Kingsley, A&S '07 (PhD), the assistant director of Johns Hopkins' interdisciplinary Program in Museums and Society. "And in fact, she is touching him. So why is that?"

Kingsley explores that question in her debut book, The Bernward Gospels: Art, Memory, and the Episcopate in Medieval Germany (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2014). The book is a considerable expansion of the research she conducted for her dissertation, which focused on Bernward as an arts patron. He was the 13th bishop of Hildesheim, which today is a city of nearly 100,000 people in central Germany. He came from a noble family, was educated at cathedral schools (the prototypes of medieval universities), tutored the future Emperor Otto III, and traveled. When Bernward became bishop in 993, Hildesheim was a powerful hub in the Holy Roman Empire, and he wanted to honor that stature. He founded the Benedictine Monks of Saint Michael's Abbey and started construction on the Church of Saint Michael's, today a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. The church, which wasn't completed until after his death in 1022, has a column sculpture depicting 28 scenes from Christ's life and bronze doors that are considered medieval masterpieces and frequently included in art history surveys.

Less studied are the images in this codex, which Bernward presented to the monastery in 1015 as a commemorative object. Kingsley says the illuminations are "quite extraordinary," their gold still sparkling and their colors vivid. Previous research was chiefly historical, identifying Anglo-Saxon English and Roman influences in their iconography and imagery. The images themselves had never been interpreted as a visual set. "That is really what drew my interest," Kingsley says. "The deeper I looked into the images, the more I noticed. And after looking for seven years, I noticed how many paintings in the work showed figures touching Christ." She points to another illumination, of John baptizing Jesus. "He's basically manhandling Christ," she says, pointing out that John has hands on each of Christ's shoulders. In typicalmedieval baptism scenes the two are close, perhaps with a hand held above Christ's head, but not so intimate. Kingsley explains that there is no parallel for this iconography in medieval art. "All of these little details increasingly drew my attention. I wanted to understand what they might have meant for their patron and audiences." She turned to encyclopedic sources and scientific treatises about touch and philosophical discussions of the senses that may have influenced Bernward's ideas.

But still, seven years of looking? Kingsley laughs. "I remember that being one of the things people told me when I started my dissertation work: Make sure you choose a topic that can sustain your interest over time because you will be living with it for a while." She found that in the Bernward Gospels. "It's so dense and so complex, not only visually because of the densely layered ornament but also in terms of its subject matter. That was the most gratifying aspect of the project because that is to me what distinguishes art history as a discipline: the process of looking in a sustained way and over a long time, at something, each time noticing new things."

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A comparison of the baroque naturalism of Alonso Cano and the baroque classicism of Anton Mengs After last week's comparison of two paintings of Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, this week as an Easter meditation I offer something similar, but this time each painting is of the scene when Mary Magdalen sees Christ in the garden and he tells her not to touch him - noli me tangere.This time the offerning in baroque naturalism comes from Alonso Cano, the 17th century Spanish artist who had the same teacher as Velazquez, Francesco Pacheco. Cano is perhaps more well know for his wood carvings in polychrome (ie painted in many colours). The baroque classicist painting of the same subject is done by the German artist of the 18th century called Anton Raphael Mengs.

Baroque classicism (as exemplified here by Mengs) seeks to evoke more a sense of the classical heritage of Western culture and, inspired by Raphael the artist of 100 years before, often look as thought they are staged scenes from a Shakespeare play set in ancient Rome. Stylistically, there is always more colour and the edges are sharper and cleaner - sometimes this can tend to give them a more sterile and less lively feel, although I don't get this feeling with Meng's painting shown here. In contrast the baroque naturalist style use monochrome and broad focus much more and has a more vigorous, spontaneous feel. My preference generally is for baroque naturalism although I in this case I like both examples equally. To the modern eye, although once pointed out we can distinguish between the two streams, they still look similar. At the time though, each school thought of itself as very different from the other. Each saw theirs as the more authentic form of sacred art and and would be openly rude and dismissive about the other.

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