Noli me tangere, meaning "don't touch me", is the Latin version of words spoken, according to John 20:17, by Jesus to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection.
The words were a popular trope in Gregorian chant, and the moment in which they were spoken was a popular subject for paintings, in cycles of the Life of Christ and as single subjects, for which the phrase is the usual title.
It has been pointed out that the original phrase, Μή μου ἅπτου, in the Gospel of John, which was written in Greek, is better represented in translation as cease holding on to me or stop clinging to me. The biblical scene of Mary Magdalene recognizing Jesus Christ after his resurrection became subject of a long, widespread and continuous iconographic tradition in Christian art from late antiquity onwards until the 20th century.
Noli-me-tangere is a historical term for facial ulceration.
The plants known as touch me not are also sometimes called noli-me-tangere.
Noli Me Tangere is also the title of a novel written by Filipino writer and national hero José Rizal in the 19th century.
Sir Thomas Wyatt mentions this phrase in one of his sonnets, 'Whoso list to hunt', which is thought to be about Anne Boleyn.
Pablo Picasso used a painting by Correggio titled Noli me tangere as a source for the enigmatic gesture in the centre of his famous painting La Vie. Picasso must have seen Correggio's painting in the Prado when he was studying art in Madrid.
"Noli Me Tangere" is the motto of various military divisions, including US 3rd Infantry Regiment, the United States' oldest active infantry regiment.
Noli me Tangere is the Motto of the Tobin Family.
The phrase is used in an episode of the X-Files, "Hollywood A.D.," featuring a legendary Lazarus Bowl which was able to raise the dead.
Is the title of the last track of Wim Mertens's 1986 album "A man of no fortune, and with a name to come".