Kneeling Saint Mary Magdalene and Standing Christ

Lippi executed four independent figure studies after young male models: the two on the recto approximate a Noli me tangere scene in which Christ appears to the Magdalen after his resurrection, forbidding her to touch him; the two on the verso appear to be spectators, perhaps in an Adoration of the Magi. This drawing, and a number of similar sheets of figure studies not directly connected to extant paintings, was likely part of a sketchbook produced by Lippi around 1482–83.