Une jeune romaine donne le sein à sa mère prisonnière · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Une jeune romaine donne le sein à sa mère prisonnière
Subject: Sympathy; Imprisonment; Breastfeeding; Starvation
Period: 1400-1450;
Geographic: Rome
Description: A Roman woman of low status is represented in her heroic act with her mother. Her name is unknown, but she gained immense respect from her community. When her mother was condemned to death for an unknown reason, she was placed in jail to starve to death. Her daughter was allowed to visit her but only without any food or drink on her. When the guards noticed that the mother was not withering away from starvation as they suspected she would, they began to spy on the daughter's visits. As it turned out, the daughter, who had very recently given birth, was breastfeeding her mother during her visits. She was saving her life by feeding her in the only way she could. It was decided that both women were deserving of honor and great awards for this commendable act. In the image, the young woman, wearing a red gown, breastfeeds her mother in the prison cell.
Image Creator: Master of the Cleres Femmes of the Duke of Berry (Illuminator)
Type: Text; Illumination
Identifier: mta:20193
Language: fre
Source Name: Livre des Femmes Nobles et Renommées
Parent Collection: 1403 Paris; 1403 Paris
Image: mta_20193_OBJ.png
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Sympathy; Imprisonment; Breastfeeding; Starvation