Noli Me Tangere,

ca. 1710–30

This highly finished relief is made of fired clay, a material characteristic of sculpture from Bologna. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, terracotta was painted to simulate marble, bronze, or precious metal; an old photograph reveals that this relief once was painted to look like bronze. Its original location is unknown, but it was probably installed high above the ground, as the composition is best seen from below. Noli me tangere ("do not touch me") was the injunction of the risen Christ when he encountered Mary Magdalene on Easter morning. The first of the disciples to learn of the Resurrection, she mistook him at first for a gardener when she came to pray at his tomb. The artist shows the wounds in Christ’s hands, feet, and side, while Mary Magdalene is portrayed kneeling before him as she recognizes that he has, indeed, risen from the dead. The Magdalene is the prototypical penitent female saint, having led a sinful life before she heard the preaching of Jesus. The subject of her encounter with Christ would therefore be an appropriate devotional subject for a penitent woman or for a convent.