Breastfeeding in Public Paintings Allowed Here!

Magda Michalska 19 October 2022 min Read

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Breastfeeding in public recurs in the public debate from time to time. Whether it’s a legal, ethical, or aesthetic matter… Whether you’re a mother, a hungry baby, or an annoyed passerby, these paintings show that breastfeeding is as beautiful as nature itself.

1. Paul Cézanne

Breastfeeding in Art: Paul Cézanne, Hortense Breast Feeding Paul, — Breastfeeding in Art: Paul Cézanne, *Hortense Breast Feeding Paul*, 1872, private collection. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

Paul Cézanne is a famous French artist known for his geometric (and yummy) still lifes. His art, grounded in Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, heralded the birth of Fauvism and Cubism!

2. Stanisław Wyspiański

Stanisław Wyspiański, Motherhood, 1905, National Museum, Warsaw, breastfeeding art — Breastfeeding in Art: Stanisław Wyspiański, *Motherhood*, 1905, National Museum in Krakow, Kraków, Poland.

This tender portrayal of maternal care was created by Polish master Stanisław Wyspiański, a true Renaissance man who, besides painting, kept himself busy with writing plays, poetry, interior design, and… architecture!

3. Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt, Louise Nursing Her Child, 1898, Fondation Rau pour le Tiers Monde, breastfeeding art — Breastfeeding in Art: Mary Cassatt, *Louise Nursing Her Child*, 1898, Fondation Rau pour le Tiers Monde, Zürich, Switzerland.

Mary Cassatt, who never had children of her own, was very keen on depicting mothers with their children. Her life story is quite remarkable. Cassatt was one of a few female artists, and the only American, to fully integrate with the male-dominated clique of Impressionists.

4. Kitagawa Utamaro

Kitagawa Utamaro, Mother and Child, ca. 1793, The Met Museum, breastfeeding art — Breastfeeding in Art: Kitagawa Utamaro, *Mother and Child,* ca. 1793, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA.

Kitagawa Utamaro was a Japanese printmaker, and one of the most esteemed representatives of the ukiyo-e style in Japanese woodblock prints. His sensual depictions of Japanese women in his prints were of profound influence on 19th-century Western art, among his many admirers was Mary Cassatt who’s mentioned above.

5. Jean Fouquet

Jean Fouquet, Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, breastfeeding art — Breastfeeding in Art: Jean Fouquet, *Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels*, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium.

This painting is one of the most fascinating masterpieces of 15th-century European art. While this Madonna hardly fits in the standards of religious art of that time, nowadays it could be easily classified as an avant-garde piece. Learn more about this painting’s story here.

6. Bramantino

Did you know that the nursing Virgin Mary was quite a common sight in Italian Renaissance art? The so-called Nursing Madonna or Madonna Lactans is a religious representation belonging to the official Christian iconography, only to be discouraged by the Church in the aftermath of the Council of Trent (1545-1563), on grounds of decorum.

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