The image of the Virgin Mary nursing a baby Jesus is a well-known sight for practically everyone around the world. We have seen it in churches, museums, or perhaps admired it up close at our grandmother's house. Obviously, our first association with this iconography is with Christianity, but has it always been so? Is it truly a representation specific to Christianity?
Two of the earliest images of the "Virgin of Milk," "Nursing Virgin," "Virgin of Rest," "Virgin of Bethlehem," or "Galactotrofusa" in Byzantine art are found in the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome (2nd century AD). In both, Mary is depicted sitting and approaching the Child to her breast. However, some authors reject that one of the figures truly shows the Virgin, as there is no attribute identifying her except for her connection with other paleochristian scenes also found in the same catacomb. On the other hand, it has also been questioned whether she can be categorized as a nursing mother since the Child does not appear to be suckling but simply resting on his mother's lap (Higgins, 2012:73).
In any case, where we do have clear evidence of the Virgin of Milk is in the eastern part of the Empire. It will spread widely throughout Byzantium from the 6th and 7th centuries AD, becoming a well-known and widespread theme across Europe and the Balkans (Rodríguez Peinado, 2013:3) and which we can still observe closely today as mentioned at the beginning of this article. In the case of the Iberian Peninsula, it will arrive through contacts with Italian territories of the Kingdom of Aragon.
ORIGIN OF THE ICONOGRAPHY
All ancient cultures make reference in one way or another to mother goddesses. We have Ishtar or Inanna, who nurse the god Tammuz (Mesopotamia), Aphrodite with her son Eros (Greece), or Isis with Horus or Harpocrates depending on the period we are examining (Egypt). It seems that it is in this last representation where we find more parallels to our Virgin of Milk and thus, our main focus for this article.
Isis is one of the most important goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon. Among her principal functions are those of a goddess of magic, wife of Osiris, and mother of the child Horus, heir to Osiris (Castel, 2001:103). This last aspect is what interests us the most as it develops an iconographic model very similar to that seen in Marian scenes.
This deity will be venerated as Mother of God (Mout Netjer in Egyptian) from the second millennium BC, but it won't be until the 7th century BC when we have examples of what is called Isis Lactans. This image shows the goddess Isis as a nursing woman who feeds her son Horus (Rodríguez Peinado, 2013:4).
With the appointment of Alexander the Great as Pharaoh of Egypt in 332 BC in Memphis, this territory will become part of the Hellenistic world. However, instead of imposing customs from the Alexandrian region, Egyptian traditions are respected and thus cults to divinities such as Isis (Arroyo de la Fuente, 2006: 2). Additionally, new communication and trade routes were opened with the rest of the Mediterranean, which made Egyptian religion reach a vast territory including Rome (Santamaría Canales, 2018: 75-78). The figure of Isis was known in multiple places, including her representation as a nursing mother, which facilitated its adoption by Christianity for its Maria Lactans (Rodríguez Peinado, 2013: 4).
As for how and why this image was adopted in Christianity, we can point to two main positions: In the first one, assimilations would have occurred due to a conflict between the rising Christian religion and pagan religions. The final victory of Christianity would have led them to use images and traditions from heretical cults as symbols of their triumph, adapting them to their own beliefs. The other perspective suggests that this relationship was not the result of any forced imposition but rather cultural change in an era of interaction and adaptation, benefiting Christianity by absorbing other cults which sought ways to integrate into the new religious landscape (Higgins, 2012: 71 – 72). Thus, mystical deities were reinterpreted and reused peacefully.
However, we would fall into an error if we defended the idea that the Virgin Mary is a product of the evolution of the goddess Isis. They are two independent entities whose relationship is based on borrowing iconography and not in assimilation or adoption of Isis's divine attributes. We must not forget that Mary has never been considered a deity in Christian dogma. Proof of this are the reasons why Theodosius II convened the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD.
Four years before this assembly, a presbyter named Anastasius preached that Mary did not deserve to be called the mother of God since she was just a woman and could not have given birth to a deity. Nestorius, one of the protagonists of the Council, defended this position against Cyril of Alexandria's stance, who supported the idea of Mary as Mother of God. Ultimately it would be the latter who won, leading the Virgin from then on to carry the title of Theotokos (lit. She who gave birth to one who was God). However, this did not imply that her person in itself was considered a deity (Martínez del Valle, 2007:204). Simply it rejected the idea of Jesus being born mortal and instead affirmed his divinity from birth.
CONCLUSIONS
In this article, we have briefly presented the relationship that is known between two very important female icons for different religions. We saw that although there are quite clear iconographic links between the Egyptian goddess and the Virgin Mary, their roles in their respective cults are not the same, with the most evident distinguishing factor being the divinity of one by right and the human nature of the other.
On the other hand, returning to the iconographic realm, although there exist parallels between images of Isis Lactans and the Virgin of Milk, we currently do not have enough evidence to think that this motif had a significant impact. There are many types of representations in Christian religion for the mother of God. Marian art is characterized by its variety and evolution over time, and soon more popular models would develop than that of Mary nursing her son. Despite this, it remains an interesting example that reveals the complex network of cultural, social, religious, and sometimes even political interactions in a context of many changes such as Late Antiquity, where Christianity begins to establish itself as one of the religions of the time.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Arroyo de la Fuente, M.A. (2006). Iconography of Alexandrian Divinities, Complutense University of Madrid.
- Castel, E. (2001). The Great Dictionary of Egyptian Mythology. Alderabán.
- Higgins, S. (2012). Divine Mothers: the influence of Isis on the Virgin Mary in Egyptian Lactans-iconography. Journal of the Canadian Society for Coptic Studies, 3, 71-90.
- Martínez del Valle, G. J. (2006). On the iconography of St. Cyril of Alexandria at the Council of Ephesus by Francisco Meneses Osorio. BSAA Art: Bulletin of the Seminar for Art Studies, (72), 203-210.
- Rodríguez Peinado, L. (2013). THE VIRGIN OF MILK. Digital Journal of Medieval Iconography, 5 (9), 1-11.
- Santamaría Canales, I. (2018). From the Nile to the Atlantic Ocean: The farthest journey of the goddess Isis and her cult. Bajo Guadalquivir and Atlantic Worlds, (1), University Pablo de Olavide, Seville, 173 – 192.
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