Mother Mary nursing

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I suppose painting is public media so I’ll put this here.
Found this great gallery of the Blessed Mother nursing Jesus, especially love the one that includes St Joseph in the frame.

The blog author offers this explanation for why depictions of nursing Mary are fairly rare:
Sexualization & Puritanism: The Maria Lactans art arguably causes controversy due to two major themes in the Western world. The first is the modern notion or obsession of sexuality, which views the body as a means to the end of gratification. The second is puritanism, which categorically eschews nudity. Both pivot on the same error – the inability to view the human body outside the scope of sexual gratification. A woman’s breast is a prime example. The modern notion of the breast as a source of sexual gratification alone has reached a point that our culture esteems the perfect breast to be the fake breast. In contradistinction, the use of Mary’s breast in Maria Lactans stands as a sign of life, nourishment, and maternity. Particularly with Mother Mary, her life-giving milk nourished our Savior, who in turn would give his life-giving blood over for all humanity.
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Thanks for the link and explanation. I didn’t know there were paintings/statues of Mary nursing Jesus.
 
I can’t say I had ever seen any artwork of Mary nursing the infant King. However, I often find myself thinking of it when I am up late at night nursing my little infant. I will close my eyes and remind myself that Mary also had these sleepless nights. Mary also felt that warmth in her heart when her baby rolled his eyes in relaxation and comfort when the milk let down. Mary also wiped milk off the chubby little chin and cheeks of a completely comforted, relaxed baby just like I do. I think of this, and as a mother I feel incredibly blessed, lucky, and even more connected with Our Lady than I ever had before.

Thank you for sharing!
 
Thank you! It is full of beauty!

In many countries, it is common to see a mother nursing her baby. It is the normal “thing” to do when the baby gets hungry.

There is a Christmas carol about Our Blessed Mother washing diapers and hanging them to dry.

Thanks again!
 
There is also an orthodox icon known as the Milk-giver, dating back to the 6th century, which depicts Our Lady nursing Our Lord.
 
Thank you for sharing this beautiful collection of our Blessed Mother nursing the most Holy Infant. Have never seen any of these before. Thanks again. I love these.
 
What beautiful and rare images of Mother Mary nursing Jesus.
Thank you for sharing!
 
One of my favorite devotions is Our Lady of La Leche. The shrine is in Florida.
 
Our parish has a reproduction of the following, an El Greco painting of Mary nursing the infant Jesus, with “grandma” (St. Anne) caressing his head, and St Joseph looking on. I like that it brings in the “extended” Holy Family. El Greco’s model for Joseph was… El Greco.

wikipaintings.org/en/el-greco/holy-family-with-st-anne
 
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