Studies in the image of the Madonna lactans in late medieval and Renaissance Italy (original) (raw)
Related papers
Holmes Disrobing the Virgin: The Madonna Lactans in Fifteenth-Century Florentine Art
Picturing Women in Renaissance and Baroque Italy, eds. S. Matthews Grieco and G. Johnson (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997) 167-195., 1997
The popular late medieval devotional image, the Madonna lactansor nursing Madonna -has recently received considerable attention from scholars interested in the significance of the Virgin's "nudity." 1 The controversial issue has been whether the Virgin's breast, bared for the Christ Child to suckle, was understood by contemporaries in terms of established religious doctrine, or whether it had the potential to trigger erotic associations. The question of whether viewers "saw a breast when they saw the Virgin's bared breast" 2 is by no means an idle one when considering the Madonna lactans in fifteenthcentury Florence. In the pictorial arts, religious imagery was increasingly reliant upon a variety of naturalism refined through the introduction oflinear perspective, proportional diminution, a point-light source, and differentiated surface values. A Quattrocento Florentine Madonna lactans painting could thus present the viewer with a vividly rendered, anatomically approximate, and palpable bare breast. What effect did this have upon the efficacy and stability of the Madonna lactans as a religious image?
Motherhood, Morality and the Madonna lactans
2020
The Madonna lactans refers to a pictorial tradition which emerged in early fourteenth century Italy, depicting the Virgin Mary breastfeeding an infant Christ. Characterised by notions of humility, charity and maternal love, the Madonna lactans icon was utilised in both public and private worship of the Virgin Mary. The pictorial tradition underwent radical shifts in function and reception throughout the late medieval and renaissance periods, during which political, religious, and social conflict affected artistic production, the role of the Catholic Church and the perception of the Virgin Mary within theology. This thesis examines the fluctuating attitudes towards depictions of the Virgin Mary’s nursing breast within Madonna lactans icons and charts the transition of the emotive ability of the image from piety, to fear. It will be argued that, despite Madonna lactans icons initial function as a symbol of the Virgin’s divine and eternal love for Christ, the introduction of new artistic traditions, such as naturalism and anatomical accuracy, subverted the symbolic resonance of the Virgin’s nursing breast. This subversion was so extensive that by 1563, the image was banned and shunned due to its ‘lascivious’ nature. Art historians differ in their analysis of the function and reception of Madonna lactans icons. Some argue that the introduction of naturalism inherently imbued eroticism within the image, regardless of intent. Conversely, others argue that the pious connotations of the Virgin’s nursing breast were too poignant for eroticism to be perceived within the image. This thesis refutes both these claims, rather, arguing that the Madonna lactans pictorial tradition reflects a duality of eroticism and piety within its content and form. In order to form this argument, multiple contemporaneous images, primary accounts by artists and patrons, and treatises will be consulted in order to assess the response to Madonna lactans icons in situ and by the layperson.
Représentations de la Vierge Marie entre culte officiel et vénération locale. Textes et images, Cristina Bogdan, Cristina-Ioana Dima, Emanuela Timotin (eds.),Heidelberg, Herlo Verlag, ISBN 978-3-948670-04-7, p. 127-150, 2022
I explore how the miracle of Mary’s painless labour and post partum virginity upon delivery of Jesus Christ into this world was reflected in the iconography of Madonna dell’Umiltà in the Italian art of Tre- and Quattrocento. I follow gospels like the Protevangelium of James, Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew or the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and try to see how a representation of Mary (in Madonna dell’Umiltà) that is not particularly narrative, and also relies on complex Oriental theology, was accommodated in the Italian culture of the time, especially in the first part of the period discussed, the Trecento. Was in some parts of Italy this rather ‘Eastern’ representation preferred over the more typical Adoration of the Christ Child deriving from the late-medieval vision of St Bridget of Sweden, or the two expressions of the same miracle (that is, the miracle of the Virgin giving birth without labour or pain) express distinct interests, or different cultural sensitivities, or perhaps they circulate in different ways as time or place? Last but not least, how the theological tenets are codified in visual works of art makes a significant interest in this article.
On the Depiction of the Madonna and the Christ in Renaissance Paintings
Given the overall Renaissance movement towards increased realism in painting, if a celebrated Renaissance artist depicted only Jesus or the Madonna in disproportionate size or with some other manner of unrealism, it was most likely a conscious decision rather than a lack of knowledge or talent. Assuming that such unrealism was a conscious decision, this paper speculates on the ideological motivations for continuing this medieval practice, and the motivations for its eventual discontinuance. A number of Renaissance paintings are cited in support of the thesis. The medieval practice eventually dissipated. This paper analyzes an example of the realistic depiction of Christ and the Madonna by a Renaissance painter; specifically, this paper analyzes Correggio’s The Virgin in Adoration of the Child.
From Artist to Audience: Italian Drawings and Prints from the 15th through 18th centuries, 2016
The undated red chalk drawing 'Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist' by Romulo Cincinnato, an active painter within King Philip II’s court in Spain, is examined in detail within this paper, with special focus on illuminating links to works by his contemporaries, specifically Giulio Romano via his painting 'The Holy Family' (ca. 1520–1523, Galleria Borghese in Rome). With less stringent similarities to other works by Raphael, this doctrinal scene must have been a well-known image in Cincinnato's time. This exhibition features a selection of Italian Old Master prints and drawings from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Curated by Dickinson College Art History majors: Clara Fritz, Paris Humphrey, Samantha Mendoza-Ferguson, Sara Pattiz, Rebecca Race, Isabel Richards, and Samuel Richards, under the direction of Melinda Schlitt.
"As in a Living Picture: The Madonna of the Rosary Altarpiece in Bologna's Church of San Domenico"
Arte Cristiana, 2018
From the time of rosary’s introduction to Italy in the late fifteenth century, the visual arts played a central role in the devotion’s efficacious practice. The revival of the rosary in the last decades of the sixteenth-century resulted in the proliferation of devotional guides, prints, and altarpieces aimed at assisting the faithful in experiencing meditation as a dynamic encounter with the figures of sacred history. This article situates the altarpiece of the rosary confraternity of San Domenico in Bologna within the devotional practices of the confraternity. It argues not only that the confraternity’s devotions activated the altarpiece, but also that the artists of Bologna intentionally refined their visual language to enhance the artwork’s devotional efficacy.