Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene (“Noli me tangere”)

Textiles

1485/1500

Southern Netherlands, possibly Brussels

This small-scale devotional tapestry depicts the Noli me tangere theme: Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection and counseling her “Touch me not.” Textiles featuring this motif were popular during the 15th and 16th centuries with wealthy patrons throughout Western Europe. Household inventories suggest that images of Mary Magdalene held a special appeal for noblewomen.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Textiles

Title: Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene (“Noli me tangere”)
Place: Belgium (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1485–1500
Medium: Wool, silk, and gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk; slit tapestry weave with some 2 : 2 interlacing in alternate alignment of some gilt metal strip-wrapped silk wefts. Warp: Count: 10 warps per cm; wool: S-ply of three Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.7–0.8 mm Weft: Count: varies from 38 to 76 wefts per cm; wool: single Z-spun elements; S-ply of two Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.2–0.5 mm; silk: pairs of Z-twisted elements; three yarns of Z-twisted elements; four yarns of S-twisted elements; S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; pairs of S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; three yarns of S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; Z-ply of three S-twisted elements; diameters: 0.3–0.5 mm; gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk: gilt-metal strip wrapped in an S-direction on an S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; diameters: 0.3–0.35 mm
Inscriptions: NOLI ME TANGERE ("Do not touch me")
Dimensions: 111.2 × 111.5 cm (43 3/4 × 43 7/8 in.)
Credit Line: Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson
Reference Number: 1937.1098
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/25960/manifest.json

Frédéric Spitzer, La Collection Spitzer: Antiquité, Moyen-Âge, Renaissance, vol. 1 (Paris: Protat Frères, 1890–91), 160 ff, no. 3.
Frédéric Spitzer, Catalogue des objets d’art et de haute curiosité: antiques, du Moyen-Age et de la Renaissance composant l’importante et précieuse Collection Spitzer, vol. 1 (E. Ménard et Compagnie, 1893), lot 396.
Helen Churchill Candee, The Tapestry Book (New York: Tudor Publishing, 1935), 59-60 (ill.).
Christa Charlotte Mayer, Masterpieces of Western Textiles from The Art Institute of Chicago, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1969), 29, pl. 13 (ill.).
Jean-Paul Asselberghs, Chefs-d’oeuvre de la tapisserie flamande: onzième exposition du Château de Culan, exh. cat. (J. Dusser, 1971), no. 6.
Michelangelo Lupo, “Il cardinale Bernardo Cles e gli arazzi fiamminghi.” In Gli arazzi del cardinale: Bernardo Cles e il ciclo della passione di Pieter van Aelst, ed. Enrico Castelnuovo (Temi editrice, 1990), 259.
Anna Gray Bennett, Five Centuries of Tapestry from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, rev. ed. (San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1992) 72.
Adolfo Salvatore Cavallo, Medieval Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993), 449.
Koenraad Brosens, editor, Christa C. Mayer Thurman, general editor, European Tapestries in the Art Institute of Chicago, exh. cat., [exhibition: “The Divine Art: Four Centuries of European Tapestries in the Art Institute of Chicago”] (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2008) 44-48, cat. 3.
Elizabeth Cleland, “‘One lytle pece of Arras …’: Small-scale Tapestries as Aids to Private Devotion during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries,” Studies in the Decorative Arts 18, no. 2 (Spring-Summer 2011), no. 3.16.

Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpieces of Western Textiles, Jan. 25-Mar. 2, 1969, cat. 13.
Art Institute of Chicago, Tapestries from the Permanent Collection, Jun. 30-Sept. 30, 1979.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, European Textile Masterpieces from Coptic Times through the 19th Century, Sept. 27, 1989-Jan. 22, 1990.
Art Institute of Chicago, Alsdorf Gallery, Department of European Decorative Arts, May 24, 1996.
Art Institute of Chicago, Alsdorf Gallery, Department of European Decorative Arts, Jun. 26-Dec. 28, 2000.
Art Institute of Chicago, Regenstein Hall, The Divine Art: Four Centuries of European Tapestry, Nov. 1, 2008–Jan. 4, 2009.
Art Institute of Chicago, Deering Family Galleries, Sept. 27, 2018-Sept. 4, 2019.

Frédéric Spitzer (died 1890), Paris, to 1890 [Spitzer Collection, catalogue no. 3]; sold, Chevallier and Mannheim, Paris, Spitzer sale, Apr. 17–June 16, 1893, lot 396, to Marin A. Ryerson (died 1932), Chicago [by proxy]; by descent to his wife, Caroline Ryerson (also Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson, born Hutchinson, died 1937), Chicago [on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago from 1933, loan number 213.33]; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1937.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Currently Off View

Status

Department

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene (“Noli me tangere”)

Currently Off View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.