Noli Me Tangere is a painting created by the late Italian artist Antonio Allegri da Correggio in around 1525. This artwork depicts a scene from the Bible, where Mary Magdalene meets Jesus Christ after his Resurrection. The painting showcases an emotive exchange between the two figures as they reach out to each other.
Noli Me Tangere is currently held in the collection of Museo del Prado in Madrid. The masterpiece has been admired for its beautiful composition and artistic techniques, including Correggio’s use of chiaroscuro, a technique that involves contrasting light and dark tones to create depth and dimension.
The theme of Noli Me Tangere also served as an inspiration for José Rizal’s novel with the same name. In his book, Rizal explored how colonization affected the Philippines during Spanish rule by centering on Don Crisóstomo Ibarra’s story upon returning from Europe. The tragic love between Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ depicted in Noli Me Tangere inspired Rizal to create an examination of how colonization affected Filipinos negatively.
Overall, Noli Me Tangere is a significant artwork created by Correggio that has continued to inspire art lovers worldwide for centuries. Moreover, it has increasingly gained value for serving as a source of inspiration to literature and postcolonial discourse due to its influence on Rizal’s writings about Spanish colonization history in the Philippines.
