Everyone responds to the American flag, says L. Scooter Morris, a painter and sculptor who grew up in Pittsburgh. The response reflects one’s politics, family history, and personal identity. Morris observes that her sculptural paintings of flags can open up or close conversations: one person may be delighted, another disturbed. That’s especially the case with this work, in which stars are replaced with guns.
In John’s Gospel (20:11–18), after Mary Magdalene discovers the stone has been removed from Jesus’ tomb, she lingers in the garden. She sees Jesus but mistakes him for a gardener. Jesus then calls her by name, and she recognizes him. Bronzino (1503–1572) has captured the moment when Mary Magdalene recognizes the resurrected Christ and receives his instruction, “Do not touch me.” The painting’s title Noli me tangere is the Latin for this directive. In the painting, Jesus looks like a gardener with a shovel in his right hand and freshly planted flowers and upturned soil at his feet.