Rijksmuseum

Maria met Jezus

Date

c. 1500 - c. 1525

Medium

terracotta (clay material)

Institution

Rijksmuseum

The nude infant Jesus playfully draws his mother’s attention by pulling her bodice open. Mary’s bare breast refers to her role as ‘Virgo lactans’, the suckling virgin. The role of her divine motherhood became popular through Saint Bernard of Clairvaux’s wondrous vision in which he received a drop of milk from the Virgin’s breast.

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