Luca Giordano

LUCA GIORDANO (Naples, 1634 - 1705).
"Noli me tangere".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Confirmed by Dottore Nicola Spinosa.
Needs restoration.
Measurements: 72 x 55 cm; 86 x 68 cm (frame).

Iconographically the work in bidding represents the "Noli me tangere", literally "do not touch me", are the words that Jesus Christ said to Mary Magdalene after the resurrection. The quotation corresponds to John 20:17. The original expression in Greek suggests an action that continues in time, so perhaps a better translation would be: "do not hold me back". Mary Magdalene is a main character in the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, who stands at the foot of the cross at his Crucifixion, and who is in fact the person who goes before Peter and John to the tomb on Easter morning, and the first to whom Jesus appears resurrected. Mary goes to the tomb and sees it open, so she believes that the body has been stolen, adding to her grief at the loss of the body she believes has been desecrated. The Gospel tells us that she bends down to the tomb and sees two angels sitting inside asking her why she is weeping; when she turns around, she finds herself facing Jesus, but her tears do not let her see, until He calls her by name. Then Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my Germans and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God". At first sight it is a puzzling phrase but, as we have already indicated, to understand it we must turn to the Greek, the language in which the Gospel was written, and scrutinize the original grammatical structure. Thus, the phrase should be interpreted as "Do not hold me back, for I have not yet ascended with the Father, and you must hasten to announce my resurrection to the apostles". It is as if he was telling Mary that when he was in heaven with his Father she could embrace him as long as she wanted, but that at that moment she should hurry and tell her brothers. In art, this episode known as "Noli me tangere" is one of the most widespread since the Renaissance. The subject is usually depicted in an orchard, in a forest or in the Garden of Eden, but in this case the setting is eliminated, in a resource very typical of the Neapolitan naturalistic Baroque, to focus the viewer's attention on the two protagonists.

Painter and engraver, known in Spain as Lucas Jordán, Giordano enjoyed great popularity during his lifetime, both in his native Italy and in our country. However, after his death his work was often criticized for its speed of execution, opposed to the Greco-Latin aesthetics. It is believed that he was formed in the environment of Ribera, whose style he followed at first. However, he soon traveled to Rome and Venice, where he studied Veronese, whose influence has been felt ever since in his work. This trip was key to the maturation of his style, as well as the influences of other artists such as Mattia Preti, Rubens, Bernini and, above all, Pietro da Cortona. At the end of the 1670s Giordano began his great mural decorations (Montecassino and San Gregorio Armeno in Naples), which were followed from 1682 by other projects, including the mural paintings in the gallery and library of the Palazzo Medici Ricardi in Florence. In 1692 he was called to Madrid to carry out mural works in the monastery of El Escorial, where he worked from 1692 to 1694. Later he also painted the office and bedroom of Charles II in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, and after these he undertook the paintings of the Casón del Buen Retiro (ca. 1697), the sacristy of the cathedral of Toledo (1698), the royal chapel of the Alcázar and San Antonio de los Portugueses (1699). However, royal commissions ceased with the arrival of Philip V in 1701 and the beginning of the War of Succession, so Giordano returned to Naples in 1702, although from there he continued to send paintings to Spain. Today Giordano's works are kept in the most important art galleries around the world, including the Prado Museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, the Metropolitan in New York and the National Gallery in London.