Noli me tangere

This article is about the Latin phrase. For the novel by Filipino writer, José Rizal, see Noli Me Tangere (novel). For the movie, see Out 1.

Noli me Tangere by Antonio da Correggio, circa 1534

Noli me tangere, meaning "don't touch me" / "touch me not", is the Latin version of words spoken, according to John 20:17, by Jesus to Mary Magdalene when she recognizes him after his resurrection.

The original phrase, Μή μου ἅπτου (mê mou haptou), in the Gospel of John, which was written in Greek, is better represented in translation as "cease holding on to me" or "stop clinging to me".^[1] The biblical scene of Mary Magdalene's recognizing Jesus Christ after his resurrection became the subject of a long, widespread and continuous iconographic tradition in Christian art from late antiquity to the present.^[2] So Pablo Picasso for example used the painting Noli me tangere by Antonio da Correggio, stored in the Museo del Prado, as an iconographic source for his famous painting La Vie (Cleveland Museum of Art) from the so-called Blue Period.^[3]

The phrase also appears in the sensual poem Whoso list to hunt by Sir Thomas Wyatt, where it refers to the elusive lover.

According to Solinus, white stags found 300 years after Caesar's death had their collars inscribed with: "Noli me tangere, Caesaris sum", meaning "Do not touch me, I am Caesar's".^[4]

Liturgical use

The words were a popular trope in Gregorian chant. The supposed moment in which they were spoken was a popular subject for paintings in cycles of the Life of Christ and as single subjects, for which the phrase is the usual title.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church the Gospel lesson on Noli me tangere is one of the Twelve Matins Gospels read during the All Night Vigil on Sunday mornings.

Gallery

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  Noli me Tangere by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1524.

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  The traditional site of Noli me tangere in the Chapel of John the Baptist in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.

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  Appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after resurrection, Alexander Ivanov, 1835

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  Noli Me Tangere, by Fra Bartolomeo c. 1506

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  Noli me tangere by Titian c.1511-15

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  Reverse of the 1861 flag of Alabama

See also

• Resurrection appearances of Jesus for a discussion of the verse.

References

1. ^ See, for instance, "Touch Me Not" by Gary F. Zeolla or Greek Verbs. In fact the form of the verb used is not the aorist imperative, which would indicate momentary or point action, but the present, which indicates an action in progress (Lesson Five - Greek Verbs). When, later in the same chapter, Jesus invites Thomas to touch his side, the aorist imperative is used to indicate the proposed momentary action (John 20:27). See also Jeremy Duff, The Elements of New Testament Greek, 7.2.2. "The difference between the Present and Aorist Imperatives".
2. ^ See G. Schiller, "Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst", vol. 3, Auferstehung und Erhöhung Christi, Gütersloh 2 1986 (ISBN 3-579-04137-1), p. 95-98, pl. 275-297; Art. Noli me tangere, in: "Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie", vol. 3 Allgemeine Ikonographie L-R, Rom Freiburg Basel Wien 1971 (ISBN 3-451-22568-9), col. 332-336.
3. ^ Gereon Becht-Jördens, Peter M. Wehmeier: Picasso und die christliche Ikonographie. Mutterbeziehung und künstlerische Position. Reimer, Berlin 2003, esp. p. 39-42, fig. 1-4 ISBN 3-496-01272-2
4. ^ Rumens, Carol. "Poem of the week: Whoso List to Hunt by Thomas Wyatt". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/aug/10/poem-of-the-week-thomas-wyatt. Retrieved 26 May 2011.