On December 16, British street artist Banksy posted a mysterious work on Instagram that referenced the Virgin and Child, sparking speculation. The painting, located on a metal plate in an unknown location, shows the woman’s breast with a rusty hole at the nipple and the baby looking desperately into its mother’s eyes.
The Instagram post, which had no caption, was posted at around 2pm UK time. There is no information about the location or meaning of the artwork.
As expected, the image sparked a flurry of comments, with social media users offering their two cents on its potential significance. Some comments suggested that the mother and her rusty wounds were a metaphor for the pain caused by Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas.
However, one user asked: “Why are commenters posting about Palestine?” Someone responded: “You know Jesus was born in Bethlehem, right?”
One user wrote: “[Banksy] Been to Gaza and the West Bank, and Jesus [sic] With a birthday coming up, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of how Palestinian mothers were slaughtered and starved because he was from Bethlehem. “
However, not everyone is convinced that the artwork is alluding to war. “Does this mean that a mother’s lifestyle choices affect the milk she feeds her baby, and the baby has no choice but to receive it? Or maybe the chemicals in our food are passed directly from mother to baby through breastfeeding?” another people commented.
This is Banksy’s first Instagram post since August, when the artist completed a highly publicized series of nine animal-themed murals in London. They include elephants, monkeys, howling wolves, fish and pelicans, and while there has been much speculation about their meaning, Banks says they are not meant to be taken seriously.
Banks has repeated the Madonna and Child theme before. His work from 2003 Poison Mary Depicts the Madonna nursing a child from a bottle emblazoned with a skull and crossbones.
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