Editing Breast (section)

===Art history===
In European pre-historic societies, sculptures of female figures with pronounced or highly exaggerated breasts were common. A typical example is the so-called [[Venus of Willendorf]], one of many [[Paleolithic]] [[Venus figurines]] with ample hips and bosom. Artifacts such as bowls, rock carvings and sacred statues with breasts have been recorded from 15,000&nbsp;BC up to late antiquity all across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Many female deities representing love and fertility were associated with breasts and breast milk. Figures of the Phoenician goddess [[Astarte]] were represented as pillars studded with breasts. [[Isis]], an Egyptian goddess who represented, among many other things, ideal motherhood, was often portrayed as suckling [[pharaohs]], thereby confirming their divine status as rulers. Even certain male deities representing regeneration and fertility were occasionally depicted with breast-like appendices, such as the river god [[Hapi (Nile god)|Hapy]] who was considered to be responsible for the annual overflowing of the [[Nile]].

[[File:Θεά των Όφεων 6393 (cropped).JPG|thumb|upright|A [[Minoan snake goddess figurines|Cretan snake goddess]] from the [[Minoan civilization]], {{circa|1600}}&nbsp;BC]]

Female breasts were also prominent in [[Minoan art]] in the form of the famous [[Snake Goddess]] statuettes, and a few other pieces, though most female breasts are covered. In [[Ancient Greece]] there were several cults worshipping the "Kourotrophos", the suckling mother, represented by goddesses such as [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]], [[Hera]] and [[Artemis]]. The worship of deities symbolized by the female breast in Greece became less common during the first millennium. The popular adoration of female goddesses decreased significantly during the rise of the Greek city states, a legacy which was passed on to the later [[Roman Empire]].<ref>Yalom (1998) pp. 9–16; see Eva Keuls (1993), ''Reign of the Phallus: Sexual Politics in Ancient Athens'' for a detailed study of male-dominant rule in ancient Greece.</ref>

During the middle of the first millennium BC, Greek culture experienced a gradual change in the perception of female breasts. Women in art were covered in clothing from the neck down, including female goddesses like [[Athena]], the patron of Athens who represented heroic endeavor. There were exceptions: [[Aphrodite]], the goddess of love, was more frequently portrayed fully nude, though in postures that were intended to portray shyness or modesty, a portrayal that has been compared to modern [[Pin-up|pin ups]] by historian [[Marilyn Yalom]].<ref>Yalom (1998), p. 18.</ref> Although nude men were depicted standing upright, most depictions of female nudity in Greek art occurred "usually with drapery near at hand and with a forward-bending, self-protecting posture".<ref>Hollander (1993), p. 6.</ref> A popular legend at the time was of the [[Amazons]], a tribe of fierce female warriors who socialized with men only for procreation and even removed one breast to become better warriors (the idea being that the right breast would interfere with the operation of a bow and arrow). The legend was a popular motif in art during Greek and Roman antiquity and served as an antithetical cautionary tale.
[[File:Beauty revealed.jpg|thumb|''[[Beauty Revealed]]'', 1828 self-portrait by the American artist [[Sarah Goodridge]].]]