Noli me Tangere
- Catalog
- WD-D10
- Artist
- Willem Drost
- Year
- c. 1650–52
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink with touches of white
- Dimensions
- 19.7 × 18.5 cm
- Location
- Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
Description
A pen drawing depicting the moment when the risen Christ appears to Mary Magdalene and tells her "Noli me tangere" (Touch me not), from John 20:17. The composition relates directly to a painting by Drost.
Analysis
This drawing is cited in the Harvard Art Museums catalog as one of the key works establishing Drost's graphic style: the handling of the landscape and rocky setting resembles that in the Harvard Eliezer and Rebecca drawing. The drawing relates directly to a painting by Drost of the same subject, providing a basis for attributing the considerable oeuvre of drawings now assigned to him. Pen and brown ink with touches of white, 197 × 185 mm. SMK, Copenhagen, KKS7049.
Historical Context
The First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654) raged during this period, with naval battles at Portland, the Gabbard, and Scheveningen where Admiral Maarten Tromp was killed. The Delft Thunderclap of 1654 devastated the city and killed Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt’s most gifted former pupil. Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated and converted to Catholicism in Rome. Blaise Pascal experienced his conversion to Jansenism. Drost worked independently in Amsterdam, competing in a vibrant art market while Rembrandt began his descent into bankruptcy.