The Holy Family Oil Painting on Canvas Carmelite Art Lactating Mary, Baby Jesus, and Saint Joseph Start Price USD 299.99 Current Price USD 299.99 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, August 22, 2008 End Time Monday, September 01, 2008 Location Miami, FL See more about 'The Holy Family Oil Painting on Canvas Carmelite Art' Description Please note that the "haze" at the bottom of the painting is actually glare from the sun. The painting is new and in superb condition.   This is a wonderful painting for the home at 20 inches long by 15 inches wide. The painter received the inspiration for this work from a painting in her own Carmelite Monastery in Cuzco, done by an anonymous 17th century painter. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of late medieval and Renaissance paintings and sculptures depict the Virgin Mary with one breast exposed as she is nursing or preparing to nurse the infant Christ. The origins of the image are disputed, but whatever its origins, depictions of the lactating Virgin acquired new meaning and new urgency in mid-14th-century Tuscany. In communities under siege from plague, wars and malnutrition, the Virgin's breast was a symbol of God's loving provision of life, the nourishment and care that sustain life, and the salvation that promises eternal life.   In many of these paintings of the nursing Virgin, Christ twists around to gaze at the viewer, making eye contact that establishes the viewer's identification with Christ and invites the viewer to share the nourishment of the Virgin's breast. Paintings also show Mary cupping in her left hand a naked breast that she exhibits to the adult Christ. With her right hand, she points to a group of sinners huddled at her feet, for whose salvation she pleads. The inscription on one such painting reads: "Dearest son, because of the milk I gave you, have mercy on them." In turn, Christ displays his wounds to God the Father, forwarding the Virgin's plea for mercy. God the Father completes the circle by releasing the descending dove of the Holy Spirit to bring salvation.   For medieval and early modern people the breast was anything but an abstract symbol. In societies that lacked refrigeration and in which animal milk was thought to foster stupidity in the infant who imbibed it, almost all people experienced their first nourishment and pleasure at a woman's breast. In texts and images, religious meaning bonded with physical experience to form a singularly powerful symbol. Although theologians may have claimed that crucifixion scenes exhibited the extremity of God's love for humans, it was scenes of the child suckling at the breast that spoke to people on the basis of their earliest experience.   We have represented Sister Teresa in this country for several years, but due to a natural disaster in her country, we had not been able to get any of her work for a while.   Sister Teresa is a Catholic artist that paints behind monastery walls to support the work of her religious community. Each painting is personally hand painted by her, and each is given an antique finish to resemble the paintings in her own monastery. Please note that you are bidding on an unframed canvas. We posted a picture of sister below with another painting not for sale.     Good luck bidding!         SquareTrade © AP6.0 On Jul-18-08 at 22:49:32 PDT, seller added the following information: Sellers: Get your own map today. Click here now. Simple." Place a Bid!