Noli Me Tangere

The pilgrimage church of Saint Leonhard in Lavanttal (Austria) was built in the early decades of the fourteenth century, and about 140 medieval stained-glass panels can still be found in the church today. In the 1920s and 1930s, the church sold several panels to raise funds for necessary repairs. The Met acquired seventeen panels from the church in the 1960s. They are now installed in three lancet windows in the Gothic Chapel at The Met Cloisters. The panels are notable for their legible iconography and vibrant hues. The heavy lines of the figures contrast with the intricate keyhole medallions and colorful floral backgrounds. The saints featured throughout the program stand out against their decorative frames.
The panels were likely created by a travelling workshop based in the nearby town of Judenburg. The various hands and styles of the different craftspeople can be discerned in the subtle variations on common themes. The Judenburg workshop relied on a limited set of cartoons, or full-scale reusable drawings that outlined poses, facial features, and shading, to create their standard repertoire of figures. This is why so many of the saints appear visually similar; they were made using a shared set of designs.

Mary Magdalene was the first of Christ’s followers to encounter him outside his empty tomb. He is shown carrying a gardening tool, emphasizing that she initially mistook him for a groundskeeper. Upon recognizing him as the risen Christ, Mary Magdalene reached out but he promptly responded "Touch me not!" (Noli me tangere in Latin) and twisted his body away. The drama of this scene encouraged medieval viewers to imagine this painfully fragile moment after Christ was crucified but before he had ascended into Heaven.


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