17th-century French Sculptor, Wooden Relief With Crucifixion And Noli Me Tangere

17th-century French sculptor

Wooden relief with Crucifixion and Noli me tangere

Wood, cm 45.5 x 19 x 10

This refined work, enclosed in a wooden case with a glass front that guarantees its preservation and private devotional character, represents a valuable example of 17th-century Northern European micro-sculpture. The artefact is distinguished by a tight vertical layout and the narrative density of the carved figures, which guide the observer through the culminating moments of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. In the upper portion, the scene of Calvary dominates, where the figure of the Redeemer stands out in the center, symmetrically flanked by the crosses of the two thieves, traditionally identified as Disma, the good thief who recognized the divinity of Jesus, and Gesta, the one who mocked him. Below the central cross, the sacred drama is populated by fundamental witnesses: the Virgin Mary, captured in an attitude of profound recollection and pain, and the evangelist John, who with his presence embodies fidelity and support for the Mother. Next to them stands the dynamic figure of a knight, iconographically identifiable as the Roman centurion Longinus. According to hagiographic tradition, it was he who pierced Christ's side with the spear to ascertain his death; struck by the blood and water gushing from the wound, he converted, exclaiming the divine nature of the man who had just died, thus becoming a symbol of immediate faith and redemption. The composition then descends towards a more complex architectural base where the episode of Noli me tangere takes place, set in a garden at the dawn of the Resurrection. Here, Mary Magdalene, having gone to the tomb, meets the Risen Christ but initially does not recognize him, mistaking him for the guardian of the garden. This iconographic misunderstanding is underlined by the detail of the altarpiece that Jesus holds in his hands, an attribute that visually defines his role as a "mystical gardener" who cultivates souls. When she finally identifies him and tries to get closer, Christ stops her with the famous Latin phrase that gives the scene its name, warning her not to hold him back since he has not yet ascended to the Father. The technical expertise of the Northern European sculptor emerges in the management of the volumes in such a small space, capable of bringing the tragedy of death on Golgotha into dialogue with the luminous hope of Easter, enclosing the entire cycle of salvation in an object of refined craftsmanship and profound spirituality.