Medievalists.net

Where the Middle Ages Begin

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Online Courses
  • Podcast
  • Patreon Login
  • About Us & More
    • About Us
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Films & TV
    • Medieval Studies Programs
    • Places To See
    • Teaching Resources
    • Articles

Medievalists.net

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Online Courses
  • Podcast
  • Patreon Login
  • About Us & More
    • About Us
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Films & TV
    • Medieval Studies Programs
    • Places To See
    • Teaching Resources
    • Articles
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Articles

The Persuasive Power of a Mother’s Breast: The Most Desperate Act of the Virgin Mary’s Advocacy

by Sandra Alvarez
March 17, 2013

The Persuasive Power of a Mother’s Breast: The Most Desperate Act of the Virgin Mary’s Advocacy

Salvador Ryan (Dept. of History, NUI, Maynooth)

Studia Hibernica, No. 32 (2002/2003), pp. 59-74

Abstract

Depictions of the Madonna and Child,which for centuries have adorned Catholic churches and burial grounds, tend to evoke warm responses from the majority who choose to be hold what appears to be an idyllic and peaceful scene. A variation of this theme, such as the portrayal of the Virgin Mary breast-feeding her Divine Son, although less common, has also claimed great popularity among iconographers from the first centuries of Christianity. However, some popular late-medieval interpretationsof the latter depiction suggest that far from being a representation of a serene mother and child at one, the iconographydepicts a veritable battle of wills. The mother (Mary) suckles her Son (Christ) in a desperate effort to appease His anger, thushoping to offset the terriblejudgement. He plans to impose on humanity.

This paper explores the effect of the Virgin Mary’s breasts on Christ the Judge, as understood inEuropean popular piety of the late medieval period, and more specifically in Ireland. In the first instance, Mary employs her breasts to feed and nourish the infant Christ, calming His anger and setting Him at peace. However, when this method fails, she chooses to employ a more radical use of her breasts in a desperate effort to attain mercy for humanity in her role as Advocate, as discussed below. It is this second method, which is treated at greatest length here. An elaborate gesture of the Virgin Mary before her Son, popularised as a motif from the twelfth century onwards, is firstly traced to its pre-Christian roots. In addition, its subsequent manifestation across Europe,which includes an appear ance in sixteenth-century Gaelic Irish bardic poetry, is explored. What results is an examination of one of themost fascinating reli giousmotifs of the latemedieval period.

Click here to read this article from Studia Hibernica

Subscribe to Medievalverse




Related Posts

  • Bitter Milk: The Vasa Menstrualis and the Cannibal(ized) Virgin
  • Imagining the Virgin in the Byzantine Night
  • The Web of Marian Symbolism : The Iconography of Jan van Eyck's "Lucca Madonna"
  • Miri Rubin - Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary
  • Madonna of the Sun and the Moon — Virgin Mary as an Apocalyptic Woman and the Representations of the Picture Type in Finland
TagsArt in the Middle Ages • Bards • Christianity in the Middle Ages • Gaelic • Iconography in the Middle Ages • Medieval Ireland • Medieval Literature • Medieval Social History • Poetry in the Middle Ages

Post navigation

Previous Post Previous Post
Next Post Next Post

Medievalists Membership

Become a member to get ad-free access to our website and our articles. Thank you for supporting our website!

Sign Up Member Login

More from Medievalists.net

Become a Patron

We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model.

 

We aim to be the leading content provider about all things medieval. Our website, podcast and Youtube page offers news and resources about the Middle Ages. We hope that are our audience wants to support us so that we can further develop our podcast, hire more writers, build more content, and remove the advertising on our platforms. This will also allow our fans to get more involved in what content we do produce.

Become a Patron Member Login

Medievalists.net

Footer Menu

  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Copyright © 2025 Medievalists.net
  • Powered by WordPress
  • Theme: Uku by Elmastudio
Follow us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter