Flemish school, 17th century.

Circle of BRUEGHEL THE YOUNG (Antwerp, Belgium, 1601 - 1678)
Flemish school, 17th century.
"Noli me tangere".
Oil on copper.
Measurements: 48 x 62 cm; 68 x 82,5 cm (frame).

The copper that we show reproduces the biblical scene of the encounter between Mary Magdalene and the Resurrected Christ. Specifically, it is inspired by the painting attributed to the workshop of Rubens and preserved in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The present work is a Flemish school painting from the circle of Brueghel the Younger, who also worked on this theme under the influence of Rubens. Jesus appears wrapped in a red cloth fluttering in the wind, as does Magdalene's silky cloak. He still retains the signs of the stigmata on the back of his hand. He holds a shovel as if it were a staff, alluding to the Resurrection. The beautiful Magdalene wants to wash his feet. We see the silver perfumer between the two characters. But he answers her "Noli me tangere" (don't touch me) referring not to hold it because he needs to see the Father first. The scene is set in a bucolic landscape, with flower pots in the foreground and trees in the background. The group of apostles can be seen in the distance. As is common in the Flemish school, a realistic treatment predominates, which can be seen in the perfumer, the flowers and the landscape.

"Noli me tangere", literally "do not touch me", words that Jesus Christ said to Mary Magdalene after the resurrection. The quotation corresponds to John 20:17. The original expression in Greek suggests an action that continues in time, so perhaps a better translation would be: "do not hold me back". Mary Magdalene is a main character in the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, who stands at the foot of the cross at his Crucifixion, and who is in fact the person who goes before Peter and John to the tomb on Easter morning, and the first to whom Jesus appears resurrected. Mary goes to the tomb and sees it open, so she believes that the body has been stolen, adding to her grief at the loss of the body which she believes has been desecrated. The Gospel tells us that she bends down to the tomb and sees two angels sitting inside asking her why she is weeping; when she turns around, she finds herself facing Jesus, but her tears do not allow her to see, until He calls her by name. Then Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God'". At first sight it is a puzzling phrase but, as we have already indicated, to understand it we must have recourse to the Greek, the language in which the Gospel was written. Thus, the phrase should be interpreted as "Do not hold me back, for I have not yet ascended with the Father, and you must hasten to announce my resurrection to the apostles".