Adriaen van der Werff Kralingen-Ambacht 1659 - 1722 Rotterdam

Possibly sold directly from the artist via Lambert van der Truijn to Gregory Page, Greenwich, 1722;
Sold by his heirs in 1783 via Bertels to Louis XVI (1754-1793), Paris;
To Citoyen Rouge, December 1796 (in exchange for a portrait by Poussin);
Stroganoff (1795-1882), St. Petersburg;
Their Estate sale, Berlin, Lepke, 12/13 May 1931, lot 95  for DM 1600 (as dated 1718);
With Galerie Tannhäuser, where bought by the Grandfather of the present owner before 1934.

Possibly J. van Gool, De nieuwe Schouburg der Nederlantsche Kunstschilders en schilderessen, vol. II, The Hague 1751, p. 389 (erroneously described as eene Maria met de vrouwen aen het graf);
Possibly R. and J.Dodsley, London and its Environments Described, vol. I, London 1761, p. 320;
Possibly T. Martin, The English Connaisseur, Dublin 1767, vol. II,  p. 61;
Possibly J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné..., vol. IV, London 1833, p. 213, no. 119;
G.F. Waagen, Die Gemäldesammlung in der Kaiserlichen Ermitage zu St. Petersburg nebst Bemerkungen über andere dortige Sammlungen, Munich 1864, p. 404;
Possibly F. Engerand, Inventaire des Tableaux commandés et achetés par la Direction des Bâtiments du Roi (1709-1792), Paris 1901, pp. 569-70;
Possibly C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibende und Kritische Verzeichnis..., vol. X, Stuttgart 1928, p. 256, no. 76 (as Die Madonna am Grab);
Possibly Y. Conterel-Besson, La Naissance du Musée du Louvre, Paris(?) 1981, vol. II, p. 161;
B. Gaehtgens, Adriaen van der Werff, Munich 1987, pp. 343-44, cat. no. 91.

Engraved: L. Petit in Musée Français (according to a note in Gaehtgens).

This late painting by Adriaen van der Werff has not been on the art market since the Stroganoff sale in 1931 (see Provenance). It is closely connected with an Incredulity of Thomas, also dated 1719, and mentioned by Van der Werff in his stocklist of 1722 as well as in his notebook directly after the Noli me Tangere (see Literature below, Gaehtgens, p. 343, cat.no. 90, reproduced p. 344). Both compositions are almost identical.  A preliminary drawing for the Incredulity of Thomas is in the Albertina, Vienna (idem, reproduced p. 345, fig. 90c).

Both pictures were painted for the open market, as after the death of Johann Wilhelm Kurfürst von der Pfalz in 1716, Van der Werff was forced to be more actively involved in the local art market for the sale of his paintings. As his health decreased, he only produced sixteen paintings in the following six years until his death in 1722.
In 1722 a total of fourteen paintings were sold to the English collector Gregory Page. The present painting was possibly amongst these and mentioned in Van der Werff's stockbook:
1 Stuk Hoog 27 duim, breed 20 ½ duim [c. 68.6 by 52 cm.] geschildert ano 1719/verbeeldende Maria Magdalena aen het graft./met de Heere Christus. Daer zij meinde dat het/den Hovenier was. Het kost in Tijd 18 weken/f 2700... maer zegge met Lijst en kas. f3200...Dit ook verkogt en gelevert op/ den ii meij 1722/aen mr Lambert/van der Truijn/voor een heer in Engeland/ voor de somma/van f3000 (idem, p. 445, doc. 7, fol. 2, reproduced p. 447). 

A notebook from the years 1716-22 exists in which Van der Werff gives a precise account of the hours he and his brother Pieter (1665-1722) had spent on each work and its cost. Gaehtgens considers a Christus met Maria aen het Graeff (Christ with Mary at the Grave), mentioned in this document, to be identical with the Noli me tangere described in the stocklist (see above). On this painting, which he began on 24 September 1718, Adriaen worked 15 weeks and Pieter 3 weeks. Therefore Adriaen expected the painting, including frame and case, to sell for f 2.800, zegge f 3000 (idem, p. 444, doc. 6, fol. 7). It is plausible that part of the present painting may have been executed by Pieter. The figures and foreground however seem to be entirely the work of Adriaen.

The Provenance and Literature mentioned below differ from that in Gaehtgens' book. Gaehtgens confused two paintings. Another unsigned Noli me Tangere was with Goudstikker, Amsterdam, by 1923. It shows Christ as a gardener, resting on a spade and standing before a cave, and is painted on canvas (see Literature below, Hofstede de Groot, p. 256, no. 78). The description in the Stroganoff sale catalogue matches that of the present painting. It is however not certain that this painting is also the one mentioned in Van der Werff's stocklist. Christ is here not represented as a gardener, as is the case with the Goudstikker one. However the signature and date on this lot and the close connection with the Incredulity of Thomas, are strong indications that the present painting is identical with the one in the Page and Louis XVI collections.