Probably by Jacopo di Cione, 'Noli me tangere', about 1368-70

This small wooden panel, probably painted by Jacopo di Cione, shows Jesus Christ meeting his disciple Mary Magdalene after his resurrection from the dead. We can identify Mary by her red robe and long blonde hair. The Gospel of John recounts that Mary went to anoint Jesus‘ body in his tomb but found it empty. She saw a man she thought was a gardener, but when he spoke her name, Mary realised that it was Christ. She tried to touch him, but he said ’Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father‘ (John, 20:17). In the Latin translation of the Gospel, Jesus used the words ’noli me tangere‘ which means ’do not touch me'. Here, the artist referenced Mary’s initial incorrect identification, showing Christ holding a gardening tool, a hoe.

The picture was a pinnacle panel in the uppermost part of a large polyptych, a multi-panelled altarpiece. Its original pointed shape with a curved top can only be partially seen, where the arch starts in the indented upper edges. The picture might have flanked another arch-shaped pinnacle showing The Crucifixion (The Robert Lehman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), where we can see a very similar figure of the Magdalene holding onto the cross. The polyptych also included Six Angels (The Robert Lehman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and the Virgin and Child with angels (Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest). Column-like structures, called pilasters, created the outer edges of the altarpiece and were probably decorated with The Littleton Saints. These six panels include the Blessed Paola and Blessed Silvestro, two members of the Camaldolese order who were buried in the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence.

The polyptych might have been painted for the chapel of Ognissanti (All Saints) in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Originally, the chapel was dedicated to Mary Magdalene and Saint Lawrence. In 1365, a notary called Franceschino di Berto degli Albizzi left money to the church. He wanted the monks to say prayers for his soul every November. This might have prompted the monks to change the chapel’s dedication to All Saints’ Day which is celebrated on 1 November. Franceschino himself might have been portrayed in the predella, the altarpiece’s bottom tier with The Man of Sorrows with the Virgin, Saint John the Evangelist and a Donor (Denver Art Museum).