The « Noli me Tangere » in byzantine and post byzantine painting (Pl. 61-66)

Abstract

The scene of « Noli me Tangere » presents the apparition of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection, as described in St. John, 2θ, n - 1 8 , and, in lesser detail, in St. Marc, 16, 9- 11. In the usual representation Christ is standing on the right, tending his right hand towards Mary, who reaches to grasp it, but halts reluctantly in compliance to his words «touch me not». We practically always find the empty tomb, sometimes inside the garden in which the scene takes place, guarded by two angels, later hewn out of the rocky mountainside in the background. The « Noli me Tangere » is hardly ever to be found before the 12th century, while other scenes from the Cycle of the Resurrection, as for example the apparition of Jesus to both « Mary Magdalene and the other Mary» (St. Matthew, 28, 1-10) are fairly frequent. It can be stated that until the 16th century the scene of « Noli me Tangere » is not presented according to some specifically laid – down type, as happens with so many other scenes in byzantine painting. Inspiration for the representation is drawn alternatively from various similar or relative scenes which had been familiar and more frequently encountered in early byzantine iconography. Thus, in Par. 74 (fig. 1) it is reminiscent of the scene of the apparition to both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary as known from older works, e.g. Par. 510. The same scene is used as a prototype to the « Noli me Tangere » of the Exultet Bibl. Mazarine 364 (fig. 3). In both these cases it is reproduced with the omission of the one woman. Alternatively, in the Exultets Vat. Barb. Lat. 592 and Brit. Mus. Add. 30337 ( fig. 4 ) the posture of Christ has a direct counterpart in the scene of the Anastassis ( Descent into Hell ) as found in Monreale, Nea Moni of Chios ( fig. 5 ) and Hossios Loukas. Later, in Serbian frescoes (Staro- Nagoricmo (fig. 6), Graaanica), the « Noli me Tangere » has strong iconographie connections to the Apparition to the Holy Women in Chilandarion ( fig. 7 ) and St. Nicholas Orphanos in Thessaloniki (PI. 61.2). Contrarily at Decani (fig. 8) the figures of Christ and Mary Magdalene can be closely correlated to those of the Miracle of the Woman with the Issue of Blood in the manuscript Par. 54 (fig. 9). The same scene from the mosaics in the church of St. Saviour in Chora may have been used as a prototype for the « Noli me Tangere » by Theophan the Greek in Volotovo ( fig. 10 ). From the early 16th century onwards the scene seems to be painted more and more after a specific pattern. This is evident from a series of paintings dated within this period and characterized by strong western infuences, e.g. two icons of the Ermitage Collection in Leningrad (PI. 62.1 and 63.2), another in the Byzantine Museum in Athens (no. 1635, PI. 63.1), and a fresco in a church at Thari in Rhodes (PI. 64-1). Its final form, however, is given to it by masters of the Cretan school in paintings of the Athos and Meteora monasteries (the Dionysiou Monastery of Athos, 1547, the Monastery of the Transfiguration, Meteora, 1552 (PI. 61.1 ), and the Dochiariou Monastery of Athos, 1568). These frescoes keep in style and composition the characteristics of the Cretan school, i.e. absence of all narrative elements, balance in composition, and adherence to the older byzantine patterns, as seen in the posture of Christ, the rugged mountainous background, the sarcophagos. Discretely, a number of western elements is now introduced, among others Christ's raised hand as a remnant of western representations where he is holding the cross, the wound of the lance in Christ's side, the bare - headed Magdalene and the richer drapery of her mantle. The « Noli me Tangere » now becomes fairly popular and is found repeatedly in post - byzantine iconography, sometimes represented by important paintings, such as the icon by Michael Damascenos ( PI. 64.2) in St. Minas in Crete ; there the type of Athos is not followed strictly, however, insofar as more western elements are utilized for the figure of Mary Magdalene, while the background is animated with various secondary scenes. Outstanding examples of faithful adherence to the Athos type from the end of the 16th century are an icon of the Hellenic Institute in Venice, the center of a triptych in the Benaki Museum ( PI. 65.2 ), and another icon from Zante (PI. 65.1 ), destroyed by fire following the earthquake of 1953. These compositions are suffused by a deep religious feeling, as well as a feeling of classical balance and austerity, while retaining at the same time profound human warmth. From the beginning of the 17th century, in the icons of Lambardos in Dudrovnic, one in the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( PI. 66.1 ), in yet another from the Schiff Collection in Pisa, and finally in one by Emmanuel Tzane ( PI. 66.2 ) in the Antivouniotissa Church in Corfu, begins a stylization, with a touch of added pathos in the expressions, to which the diminishing refinement and elegance of the forms can be ascribed. The « Noli me Tangere » continues to be painted until the 18th century, sometimes faithful to the Athos type ( frescoes of Pyrghi in Chios, and of Mavrilo), sometimes with obvious western affiliations (frescoes of the Theologos Church in Nicosia, by the painter Markos in the Moni Petraki in Athens, and the Phaneromeni in Salamis). Finally, we must mention a large number of works embellished with various elements, borrowed even from Damascenos : frescoes from Kaisariani and St. John Lambadist in Nicosia, an icon in Makrynitsa (PI. 62.3), another by the painter Hanna in the Byzantine Museum in Athens (PI. 62.2), and an iconostasis wooden door (fig. 11) from Kythera.