A full-page miniature from a Book of Hours from North Netherlands dated c 1470. A nimbed Bernard with hands clasped in prayer and with his crozier leaning against his right shoulder kneels before a crowned standing Virgin and Child. The Virgin presses her right breast with her right hand and sends a jet of milk towards Bernard. The usual inscription below Bernard reads 'Monstra te esse matrem'. Above there is an unusual inscription: 'Cur tuo lacte pio madidas mea guttera virgo' (O Virgin, why does your milk totally overwhelm my throat?). The inscription above the Virgin has: 'Omnibus ut populis lactea verba carnas' (So that the whole world may sing words like sweetened milk). The figures stand on a black and white tiled floor against a gold wall and within a gold frame and foliate decorated border.
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