- Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind,
Not two breasts, one, (singular) and while a literal reading might suggest a non-sexual innocence, I did find this:
Women of the 1600s, from queens to prostitutes, commonly exposed one or both breasts in public and in the popular media of the day, according to a study of fashion, portraits, prints, and thousands of woodcuts from 17th-century ballads.
"The exposure of the breast was a display of the classical and youthful beauty of the woman — she was showing her 'apple like' unused Venus breasts," Jones said. "This was a display of her virtue, her beauty, and her youth. Upper class women maintained the quality of their breasts by not breast feeding their children and passing them on to wet nurses." cite
Interestingly, the Virgin Mary was often portrayed with a single breast exposed which we are to assume was for breastfeeding, but just a few short years later, after (protest reformation and) this in-vogueness of the breast, the church demanded Mary's boobs be covered up. Was she just too sexy?
Artists later depicted the nursing Mary fully clothed because the Protestant reformers were generally critical of "the carnality and unbecoming nature of many sacred images".
So based on this information, there's only one thing to do when turning my paper in tomorrow in English. Walk into class with one boob out.
TELL me not, Sweet, I am unkind
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind,
To war and arms I fly.
True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.
Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee, Dear, so much,
Loved I not Honour more.
