Sexuality is a natural component of human existence; throughout history society has served controversial opinions regarding sex and religion. In the time period of “A Virgin’s Particular Breast”, the Roman Catholic church demonstrated absolute control in Italy. Nancy Yakimoski addresses how public opinion strongly prohibited any display addressing sexuality or nudity. This directly lead to the unnatural persona of the Virgin Mary in artwork during the early centuries. As the role of the church has changed in society, so too has the outlook on sexuality.  The church’s role and degree of control of society affects the moral perspective of human sexuality in society.

The Roman Catholic church demonstrated elements of religious control over the people of Italy in the early centuries. Elements of religious control conducted by the church are evident by removing elements of sex or nudity from public view in society. The writings of the bible followed by the Roman Catholic Church, classify sex and sexual immortality outside of marriage as sins. Yakimoski describes the Virgin Mary’s breast in the painting as “flat and cone shaped rather than portrayed in a more realistic manner, that is round and full of milk” (Yakimoski, p.245). The author is addressing the claim that the painting was distorted and changed away from the realistic version by the church. The church’s high level of control directly benefitted the moral perspective of human sexuality by Italian society during this time in the early centuries.

 The church possessed both religious and political control in Italian society during the early centuries. According to David Hempton, “The Roman Catholic Church remained the most important institutional patron” (Hempton, I.B Tauris, 2011). The unrealistic representation of the Virgin Mary’s “denaturalized and disembodied breast” (Yakimoski, p.246) in early century paintings was birthed from the Roman Catholic Church’s viewpoint of nudity. The church’s overwhelming power affected the way that society viewed situations concerning sex or nudity.

 The church was meaning to censor society against open sexuality and nudity to eliminate sexual temptation. Nancy Yakimoski addresses the church’s viewpoint on the forced change, “The exposed body in religious art could potentially encourage the “wrong” kind of looking” (Yakimoski, p.246). The religious control that the church possessed over the public allowed for them to prevent the citizens in society from temptation. The “wrong kind of looking” is demonstrating a look at the painting consisting of Mary’s bare breast nursing the baby Jesus and “diverting gazes that were not purely religious” (Yakimoski, p.246). The Roman Catholic church’s high degree of control concerning religion allowed for them to dictate the publics exposure to nudity and sexual related topics. The moral perspective of society concerning sex and nudity was affected by the church’s spread of religious views of sex onto the absolute moral doctrine of the law. 

Since the Roman Catholic church possessed complete and absolute control the church combined the bodies of law, politics, and the bible all together into enforcing entities of society. Carmichael addresses the components of religion to power, “Religion owes its legitimizing force to the fact that it draws its power to convince from its own roots” (Carmichael). Carmichael claims that religion has “roots” directly drawn from the bible that can easily be drawn and used to mandate power. If the church requires people to believe these rules in the bible, despite their religious affiliation it is deemed as religious control.  The bible itself is the best source to read the full effect of the Roman Catholic’s viewpoint to sex and sexual immortality in society. The political laws from the governing church were dictated by the roots of the bible, defining sins in the bible as unacceptable through the law. The moral perspective of sexuality was completely influenced by the church onto the people as prohibited. The public lived in fear of not only religious punishment but the governing body in charge of Italy in the early centuries. 

As the power of the church changes through time and as now we do not have a church that dictates with absolute control over religious and political affairs. We still do live with sexuality in our lives and the moral perspective of sexuality. The power of the church currently has no affiliation to political affairs. We exercise the right to religious freedom and we do not live with a government telling us we must believe in a certain religions group of practices or believes. Past society in the early centuries of Italy, people were afraid to express their personal opinion concerning sexuality or experience art in its true potential.  The control demonstrated by the Roman Catholic Church changed the moral perspective on an element of life that was not their choice. 

Considering now the church’s role in society, human perspective on sexuality has changed. Current music videos, and pop-stars now dress in revealing outfits. It is not deemed as personally strict or morally wrong to express these behaviors in current society. Humans have free will to think and feel however they please concerning sexuality. The effects of being forced to follow rules on a political level concerning religion no longer exists in present day society. The basis of religion and the bible now exists on a personal and individual level, away from businesses, and public schools, and politics. The basis of the religious viewpoint concerning sex and sexual immortality still is appreciated and followed by many in society, it is just not forced by the government in a way to change one’s personal perspective regarding sexuality. 

The Roman Catholic church’s degree of control politically and religiously, allowed for the manipulation in the moral perspective of sex in the early centuries of Italy. The unnatural depiction of the Virgin Mary throughout early artwork demonstrates the degree of control that the church had over the people. The church’s religious standings towards sex and sexual immortality from the bible was directly carried into control over the people’s exposure to things of sexual content. As the church’s role in society has diminished on a level of control, noticeable changes in the way that sex and sexuality are viewed are very different.  This is from our moral perspective that is based from the church’s current role in society. 