Alonzo Cano
The Lactation of St. Bernard
Circa 1650
Oil on Canvas, 105.1 x 72.8 in. (267 x 185 cm.)
Prado Museum, Madrid
A vita of the saint says that while he was praying before a statue of the Virgin Mary the statue poured three drops of milk from its breast onto Bernard's mouth. Like several others like it, this painting reimagines the three drops as a flowing stream.
As usual, St. Bernard is portrayed as tonsured and wearing the hooded white habit of the Cistercian Order.
There are several versions of the story in the various vitae and they all claim that the event was witnessed, as it is here. But the versions do not agree as to the identity of the witness.
Read more about images of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
Source: this page at Wikimedia Commons.
