ABSTRACT
A consideration of the figure of the nursing mother suckling the child and exposing her naked breast to view in the art of the classical period brings out clear differences between Classical Greek art and the art of Italy. An examination of the possible reasons for the absence of this motif in Classical Greek art in contrast to its remarkable importance in the art of Italy at all periods may bring us closer to the social and religious complexities of the Mediterranean world in the period before the unifying influences of the Hellenistic period.
