# What is the meaning of this painting? Why is one sister pinching the other's nipple? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-this-painting-why-is-one-sister-pinching-the-others-nipple/237462 "2004-03-31T03:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-this-painting-why-is-one-sister-pinching-the-others-nipple/237462/61 "2004-05-15T19:16:38Z")
> [@mrunlucky](#): > > I’ve read that the sister getting pinched is pregnant, as implied by the pinching. However I don’t know why that is. > [@kjbrasda](#): > > It could signify stimulating lactation. I had to revive this thread. This painting is reproduced in _Milk, Money and Madness: The Culture and Politics of Breastfeeding_, by Naomi Baumslag and Dia L. Michels. They say: > [@](#): > > Since antiquity, concerns about the quality and quantity of breastmilk have been voiced. Various “milk tests” have been devised in the hope of finding ways to qualify the substance. In South Africa, many African tribal women felt they could tell how far along their pregnancies were based on the color of milk expressed from their breasts. This “technique” appears to have been used by European women as well. [reference to this picture]. No footnote is given. **mrunlucky** and **kjbrasda** appear to have sussed it out. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-this-painting-why-is-one-sister-pinching-the-others-nipple/237462/62 "2004-05-16T01:47:37Z")
The theory expresed earier thatthis is the same woman in different phases of her life bears a lot of possibility. I recently saw an exhibit of italian Renaissance paintings and this technique of the paiting telling a story was used a lot. One paricular painting I remember had the same charcters shown 5 or 6 times. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-this-painting-why-is-one-sister-pinching-the-others-nipple/237462/63 "2004-05-16T15:25:19Z")
Nah, I think it’s obvious. The meaning of this painting is that I really, really need to find a girlfriend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-this-painting-why-is-one-sister-pinching-the-others-nipple/237462.md?page=3)