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Saturday 2 July 2011

Breastfeeding through art

After pregnancy and childbirth collections, the next logical step is a breastfeeding art collection.

A newborn baby has only three demands.  They are warmth in the arms of its mother, food from her breasts, and security in the knowledge of her presence.  Breastfeeding satisfies all three.  ~Grantly Dick-Read

Isis breastfeeding Horus (source)

Egyptian bottle showing breastfeeding (source)
Detail from a 15th century French manuscript illustration (source)




The Virgin Mary Nursing Her Child by Hans Memling (source)
The Holy Family by Rembrandt (source)
Detail of a wood engraving from the 15th century (source)
The Birth of Saint John the Baptist by Domenico Grihlandaio (source)
Holy Family by Francisco de Zurbaran (source)
Virgin of the Green Cushion by Solario (source)
The Storm by Giorgione (source)
Madonna & Child by Guido Reni (source)
Detail from cathedral in Lima, Peru


Nursing does not diminish the beauty of a woman's breasts; it enhances their charm by making them look lived in and happy.  ~Robert A. Heinlein


 

The wet nurse by Mattia Pretti (source)
From British Museum, London


From cathedral in Madrid, Spain
Lady Mary Boyle by Sir Godfrey Kneller

Mother breastfeeding her child by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot

Hortense breastfeeding Paul by Paul Cezanne, 1872

The Breastfeeding mother by Marguerite Gerard

A detail of a painting from 16th century showing a wet nurse.
Before the Ball by Edouard Debat-Ponsan (source)
The Milky way by Peter Paul Rubens (source)
Breastfeediny by Pablo Picasso

Breastfeeding mother by Auguste Renoir

My nurse and I by Frida Kahlo, 1937

Negermutter by Ernst Neuschul, 1931
The mother by Gari Melcher
New Earth by Elanor Colburn (source)
Nursing mother (source)
Nesting (source)
(source)

Inuit woman nursing twins (source)
(source)

No one could give her such soothing and sensible consolation as this little three-month-old creature when he lay at her breast and she felt the movement of his lips and the snuffling of his tiny nose.  ~Leo Tolstoy


There is also a picasa album open to public about breastfeeding madonnas, you can find it - here.

Next compliation... Babies? :)

Natašek

3 comments:

  1. Such a fantastic article and collection Natašek! very beautiful, thank you sharing!

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  2. Love these. Can you tell me where the original of the last picture is - source goes to not found. It is a great photo and I may like to paint it, but want to get permission from the owner. Thanks. (reason for painting was recent time magazine cover with an I dare you stare, and I'd like to paint something more worthy.

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  3. Thank you, I haven't found out who the original artist is. I tryed finding it through google images, and all sources lead to: http://mamalunastar.blogspot.com/2011/04/vintage-breastfeeding.html
    but there's no copyright to indicate who the real author is, so I'd recomend you ask the person who has that blog.

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