Christ as the Gardener

From the Getty Museum record

>When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing; and she knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith to her: Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, thinking that it was the gardener, saith to him: Sir, if thou hast taken him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. >(John 20:14-15) According to the Gospel of John, the resurrected Christ is first seen by the disciple Mary Magdalene, who mistakes him for the gardener. After Mary recognizes Christ, she cries out in joy and reaches out for him. This drawing depicts Christ's response to Mary, when he tells her not to touch him because he has not yet ascended to his Father. Standing alone on a patch of grass, Christ holds a large shovel in his left hand while gesturing to Mary with his right. Though Mary Magdalene is not shown, Christ's gaze to the left, and the turn of his torso and one of his feet towards the right, suggests the Magdalene's presence and Christ's movement away from her. The top and upper right of the drawing have been cut, and at one time Mary Magdalene may have been included in the composition.