Yes, she is holding her breast: it sounds as though the painting being
described is what is usually called the Musee de Cluny frontal (or
some such), and which seems to have been related to a retable in
England known as the Thornham Parva retable, after the village where it
is still kept.
The first scene of four is the Virgin feeding the Child at the
Nativity, the second is the Death of the Virgin, the third is the
Adoration of the Magi, and the fourth the Education of the Virgin.
The Thornham Parva retable and the Cluny frontal are reproduced
together in the Age of Chivalry Exhibition Catalogue (eds. Alexander
and Binski), London, Royal Academy, 1987, p. 448.
Beth Williamson
On Wed, 14 Jun 2000 14:21:09 +0100 [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> Is the Virgin at Cluny definitely holding her breast? I have come across
> images of the Virgin holding an apple or similar round object out to the
> Child. These do tend to be read as proxy breasts - the apple is still
> symbolic of nourishment. I have also come across pictures of the Virgin and
> Child with a bird - which could be the Holy Spirit or possibly the natural
> world?
>
> Maddy
>
>
> Dr Madeleine Gray
> Department of Humanities and Science
> UWCN
>
> 'Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought'
>
>
----------------------
Dr Beth Williamson,
Department of History of Art
University of Bristol
36 Tyndalls Park Road
Bristol, BS8 1PL
+ 44 (0)117 928 8591
[log in to unmask]
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