Flemish painter Juan de Flandes (c. 1460-1519) worked for Isabella I of Castile from 1496 until the Queen’s death in 1504. After that date, bishop of Palencia, Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca (1451-1524) undertook important works in the Cathedral and decided to move the cathedral’s main chapel (from what is now the tabernacle chapel to its present location, previously the retrochoir). This new and bigger space allowed the bishop to extend the main altarpiece and complete the ensemble of carvings (realized by sculptor Felipe Bigarny) and architectural decorations (realized by Pedro de Guadalupe) commissioned by the previous bishop, Diego de Deza (1443-1524). With the decision to extend the altarpiece came the idea of adding paintings: on December 9, 1509, Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca and Juan de Flandes signed a contract to make eleven paintings of the followings depictions in the following order: Crucifixion, Road to Calvary, Burial of Christ, Resurrection, Noli me Tangere, Agony in the Garden, Christ before Pilate, Ecce Homo, Road to Emmaus, Birth of Christ, and Annunciation. Ten out of the eleven paintings are still today in the Cathedral of Palencia. The Crucifixion is now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid.

The present painting is executed by an anonymous Spanish painter and depicts the Noli me Tangere. It is faithfully based on the painting realized by Juan de Flandes for the Cathedral of Palencia between 1509 and his death in 1519. It is therefore most certain that the painter of the present Noli me Tangere was working during the first half of the 16th century, in Palencia, where he could admire Juan de Flandes’ work. Some elements have been closely copied, such as the position of Christ and Mary Magdalene, or the presence of the city in the background. Other details have been simplified, such as the sky and the decoration on the clothes of the two figures. The painter of the present Noli Me Tangere has also taken a few liberties, such as adding a few trees on the right, or modifying the colors of Mary Magdalene’s drapery. The presence, on the back, of a second painting (by another Spanish artist, c. 1550?) depicting the Crucifixion suggests that the panel was used in a workshop where two painters used the same panel. During the 19th or 20th century, the present panel was mounted in a wooden and sculpted frame that imitates the Renaissance style and with two (probably invented) coat of arms.