Description: Red chalk, pen and point of brush in brown, brown wash, heightened with white, 162 x 232 mm. Watermark: Fragment. Chain lines: 25 mm. Numbered at the bottom right, in pen and brown ink, 1818 (Sparre) and 187 (struck out). Mark of the Royal Collection (Lugt 1638).

The composition seems to be derived from Rembrandt’s painting Noli Me Tangere in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum in Brauschweig, but the figures of the risen Christ and a kneeling Mary Magdalene in front of him are mirrored, and their positions are slightly changed.  On the left is the dark opening of the tomb, while on the right the gates of Jerusalem with the apostles returning have been added, a motif that is lacking in the painting. The drawing has been retouched, with changes to Christ’s robe and the position of his feet, indicated with broad strokes in a different ink; similar changes have also been made in Mary Magdalene’s dress.

As early a writer as Hofstede de Groot considered this a school drawing. Kruse thought it possibly a copy by Eeckhout, retouched by the master. Bauch suggested Hoogstraaten, while other scholars preferred Renesse, including Benesch and Sumowski. The latter later changed his mind, comparing the woman with a drawing in New York, Old Lady Reading the Bible.  A better comparison seems to be a signed drawing in Bremen.  There is also a kinship in style with another drawing attributed to the same master, Christ with the Adulteress.  Since Rembrandt’s painting is dated 1651, it is reasonable to date the drawing c. 1651–52. [Magnusson, Dutch Drawings no. 130]

Rör mig inte