Virgin Giving Breast 

Editor: This is Jan Provoost’s "Virgin Giving Breast," painted in oil. There's something very intimate about the composition, a real sense of quiet tenderness, even a radical sense of womanhood on display. What's your take? Curator: It’s tempting to view this image solely through a devotional lens, and many do, but consider the social realities it subtly reflects. What does it signify to see Mary, usually a figure of remote purity, engaged in this very earthly, bodily act of motherhood? Editor: I hadn't thought about it like that! So you’re saying that breastfeeding becomes more than just feeding a baby. Curator: Precisely. Think about gender roles of the time. For upper-class women, wet nurses were common. Mary's active nursing challenges those social norms; she claims a space that transcends class boundaries and traditional expectations. The painting subtly pushes against prevailing notions. Do you see other instances where we might find traces of unexpected intersectional themes? Editor: Well, her gaze is very direct, almost confrontational, as if to say: "Yes, this is who I am, in all my roles." Curator: Exactly! It refuses to shy away from the complexities of female identity, the multifaceted roles women embody and their relation to the power structures around them. It suggests perhaps a proto-feminist consciousness, where everyday experiences and acts of service can constitute profound statements of agency and independence. Editor: That's a totally new way of viewing this familiar scene. I will never see Madonnas in the same way. Thanks. Curator: My pleasure! Let's keep thinking critically, questioning the obvious and the expected in our experience of art.