Noli me tangere

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

The words were a popular trope in Gregorian chant, and the 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.

It has been pointed out that the original phrase, Μή μου ἅπτου, 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. The biblical scene of Mary Magdalene recognizing Jesus Christ after his resurrection became subject of a long, widespread and continuous iconographic tradition in Christian art from late antiquity onwards until the 20th century.