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Rating: Confused and sexually excited.
This was my state of mind, tainted by psychotropic exogenous substances, when I first saw this 1450 painting in a museum in Belgium.
The Madonna with this bold and shameless bare breast without nipple about to nurse the eager Christ... I thought it was a modern work but instead I discovered that the theme of the Madonna nursing Christ was widespread in Christian iconography, taking inspiration even from ancient Egypt with Isis nursing her son Horus (the one with the falcon's head).
Then, around 1550, with a council, the Catholic prelates decided that depicting the Madonna nursing with her bosom exposed could cause malignant disturbance to the faithful and thus stop! This iconography was prohibited because our Lord had changed his mind.
Anyway, this painting by a French artist portrays a certain Agnes Sorel, courtesan of King Charles VII of France (historical period end of the Hundred Years' War), a beautiful and fascinating favorite lover of the king known for her elegance. She was one of the first to dress with bare shoulders, and it is said she had remarkably impressive bosoms.
She died under mysterious circumstances and recently her body was exhumed, revealing that she was poisoned with massive doses of mercury due to the usual court intrigues and because she was too influential over the king.
The painting is actually a diptych, where the other portion depicts two men very likely to be the patrons, who have their gaze fixed on these famous bosoms.
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