Noli me tangere

The title comes from the Gospel of John, the Latin for touch me not. It is the moment after the Resurrection when Mary Magdalene recognises the risen Christ in the garden and reaches toward him, and he draws back, telling her not to hold on. Barocci strips the scene to just the two figures and the space between their hands, which is where he puts all the tension. He returned to this subject more than once. This version dates to around 1590, and an earlier treatment of the same encounter is now in Munich. The gesture is caught mid-motion, her hand still reaching as his lifts away, so the picture holds the instant just before she takes in what he is telling her.