19.10.2012

Noli me tangere - Wikipedia, the f ree ency clopedia

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noli_me_tangere

Noli me Tangere by Antonio da
Correggio, c. 1534

Noli me tangere

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Noli me tangere, meaning "don't touch me" / "touch me not", is the Latin
version of words spoken, according to John 20:17
(http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20John&verse=20:17&src=!) , 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]

Contents

1 Liturgical use
2 Gallery
3 See also
4 References

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

Noli me tangere - Wikipedia, the f ree ency clopedia

2/3

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noli_me_tangere

Noli me Tangere by
Hans Holbein the
Younger, 1524.

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

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

Noli Me Tangere, by
Fra Bartolomeo c. 1506

Noli me tangere by
Titian c.1511-15

Reverse of the 1861 flag
of Alabama

See also

Life of Jesus in the New Testament
Resurrection appearances of Jesus

References

1. ^ See, for instance, "Touch Me Not" by Gary F. Zeolla (http://www.dtl.org/bible/article/touch.htm) or Greek

Verbs (http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/greekverbs.html) . 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
(http://www.bibletruths.net/Greek%20Course/Lesson%20Five%20of%20Greek%20Course.htm) ). 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 (http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20John&verse=20:27&src=!) ).
See also Jeremy Duff, The Elements of New Testament Greek, 7.2.2. "The difference between the Present and
Aorist Imperatives" (http://books.google.com/books?id=XSFOQJgMgmAC&pg=RA3-PA13&lpg=RA3-
PA13&dq=aorist+present+greek+imperative&source=web&ots=lyuIeTGoXY&sig=J2TiQHzGFiCJVxre6HdpP
Ngn-QE#PRA3-PA13,M1) .

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 (10 August 2009). "Poem of the week: Whoso List to Hunt by Thomas Wyatt"

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/aug/10/poem-of-the-week-thomas-wyatt) . London: The
Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/aug/10/poem-of-the-week-thomas-wyatt.
Retrieved 26 May 2011.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Noli_me_tangere&oldid=513160163"
Categories: Latin religious phrases Vulgate Latin words and phrases Iconography of Jesus

Christian liturgy, rites, and worship services Liturgy of the Hours Eastern Christian liturgy
Sayings of Jesus Gospel of John

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