NOLI ME TANGERE

Perhaps the most important moment in the catholic calendar for both the hierarchy of the Church and the oppression of women alike.

Noli Me Tangere – Giotto - Arena Chapel

Described in John’s gospel, ‘Touch me not’, is the one moment in the life (or death or resurrection) of Christ, whereby the future repression or emancipation of women hangs ‘erotically’ in the balance. After his resurrection, the ‘fact’ that Christ appears first to Mary Magdalene and not St. Peter, as Peter himself would later proclaim, is all the ‘proof’, and what the blokes in charge of the Catholic Church down the ages have feared most, that Gnostics and ‘Da Vinci Code fans’ alike need to suggest that Christ favoured Mary Magdalene above all the other disciples and at this very moment sought out her alone to pass on the reins of leadership.

Peter had other ideas of course, and to play down the moment, the Church consequently includes the little ‘Touch me not’ proviso to the narrative..! Historically in art, you’d be hard pressed to find any images depicting the scene other than Christ’s rebuff of Mary; I've personally come across only a couple of examples - Jacob Cornelisz (c. 1515) and this one by Cano (c. 1640).

For now then, Szczęśliwy Wielkanoc (?) Oh, p.s., and although the snow did melt after all by the end of the day yesterday, it’s back again today – about three inches of the bloody stuff [Shocked Smilie]