The Anachronic Madonna Lactans: Impersonations of the Nursing Virgin by Cindy Sherman, Catherine Opie, and Vanessa Beecroft

Abstract This article examines Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #216 (1989), Catherine Opie’s Self-Portrait/ Nursing (2004), and Vanessa Beecroft’s White Madonna or VBSS.002 (2006) in relation to the medieval and Renaissance artworks these photos quote and re-instantiate: Jean Fouquet’s Virgin of Melun (1452–1455); Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Madonna del Latte (1325–1335) and Leonardo da Vinci’s Litta Madonna (1490s); and Tino di Camaino’s Charity (1321) and Jan van Eyck’s Lucca Madonna (1436), respectively. This juxtaposition — framed by reference to Alexander Nagel’s and Christopher Wood’s concept of “anachronism” and to Aby Warburg’s notion of the Pathosformel — helps us ask new questions and gain new insights about the “old masters” under discussion.