Monday 30 January 2012

Muslima (?) and Child (II)

"The Western Burqa?"
I posted about this last month here.
I got an answer from my old mate:
"Thanks for your interesting discourse on the drawing based on Da Vinci's work.
"I don't think I will see a pale breast poking out of a dark burka on any local streets, but I suppose it must happen behind doors. I wonder if public breast feeding as common in JC's time?  Was Leonardo's painting something commonplace?
"Here is a photo of a life size sculpture recently completed -- The Western Burqa?  
All the best..."
I must say, I didn't realise that the original drawing was a comment on medieval (or biblical) mammary mores... So I'm still no clearer as to whether the original drawing was meant as irony or moral equivalence.

Still, the question my mate raises -- "was breast feeding common in JC's time?" -- led me to an interesting post here.  It would seem that it was, as there were paintings in Roman times with public breast-feeding...