Los hombres también sacan pecho: maternidad y lactancia según el pensamiento de Aonio Paleario

Abstract

Humanist writers recorded in their texts their particular ethical and deontological attitudes towards breastfeeding. Taking into consideration the unique views on motherhood and breastfeeding in the Italian Renaissance context, this article shows how the majority of the literati of the time were advocates of breastfeeding as an unequivocal symbol of affection and mother-child bonding. The philological analysis of the treatise entitled Dell’economia o vero del governo della casa (1555) backs up the keys to this position so deeply rooted in Italian Renaissance culture. The author of the text, the distinguished Aonio Paleario, shows from his intellectual vantage point how breastfeeding constitutes a decisive element in the baby’s proper physical and spiritual development. This approach would be closely linked to the social and moral perceptions of other Renaissance playwrights, scholars among whom the figure of Sperone Speroni stands out with particular significance.