(Latin, “Do not touch me”). In Christian iconography noli me tangere refers to the episode of Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus after his resurrection. Having discovered that His body had disappeared from the tomb, Mary Magdalen met a man she believed to be a gardener and begged him to tell her where he had put the body. Jesus addressed her by name, whereupon she recognized him, but he told her not to touch him, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17).

Titian. Noli Me Tangere. Oil on canvas. Ca. 1514. National Gallery, London.