Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene (“Noli me tangere”)
1485/1500
Southern Netherlands, possibly Brussels
Belgium
This small-scale devotional tapestry depicts the Noli me tangere theme: Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection and counseling her "Touch me not." Textiles featuring this motif were popular during the 15th and 16th centuries with wealthy patrons throughout Western Europe. Household inventories suggest that images of Mary Magdalene held a special appeal for noblewomen.
Wool, silk, and gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk; slit tapestry weave with some 2 : 2 interlacing in alternate alignment of some gilt metal strip-wrapped silk wefts. Warp: Count: 10 warps per cm; wool: S-ply of three Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.7–0.8 mm Weft: Count: varies from 38 to 76 wefts per cm; wool: single Z-spun elements; S-ply of two Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.2–0.5 mm; silk: pairs of Z-twisted elements; three yarns of Z-twisted elements; four yarns of S-twisted elements; S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; pairs of S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; three yarns of S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; Z-ply of three S-twisted elements; diameters: 0.3–0.5 mm; gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk: gilt-metal strip wrapped in an S-direction on an S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; diameters: 0.3–0.35 mm