The motif of the uncovered female breast is ubiquitous in art of all ages and cultures. Modern analysis of breast imagery tends to be biased by the sexual significance that breasts have now. However in Italian renaissance art the exposed breast appears in many different manifestations. The purpose of this thesis is to explore several specific types of breast iconography. The first chapter will examine images of Maria lactans, and consider the religious, cultural and psychological meaning held within the image and the social changes which were to lead to its loss of popularity. Chapter Two will consider the appearance of secular images of breastfeeding, particularly in the city-states of north Italy in the early Renaissance, and examine possible sociological reasons for the political use of the depiction of breast feeding. Other associated breast iconography will also be considered. Chapter Three will focus on images of the tortured breast, particularly depictions of St. Agatha suffering the removal of her breasts during martyrdom. Both the sacred and sado-sexual elements of such images will be examined. The fourth chapter will look at images of Lucretia. It will be examined why in so many cases artists chose to depict her with her breasts exposed (in contradiction to ancient sources) and with the dagger actually pointing at or embedded in her breast. It will be argued that the breast was used in art as external symbol of the female heart. The final chapter of the thesis will focus on paintings Cleopatra. Again, there is an even more marked contradiction to ancient sources when Cleopatra is depicted dying by a snakebite to the breast. A full-circle will be achieved in the contrast of paintings of Mary suckling Christ with images of Cleopatra apparently breastfeeding a snake.

Cette thèse a pour objet d’étudier le personnage de la reine transgressive sur la scèneespagnole du Siècle d’Or à partir d’un corpus de huit comedias publiées entre 1609 et 1653 pardes dramaturges célèbres (Virués, Tirso de Molina, Guillén Rojas Zorrilla, Lope de Vega,Calderón de la Barca). L’introduction permet d’asseoir les bases d’une réflexion qui entendfaire émerger des types de reines particulières, des figures héritées d’une traditionmythologique, biblique ou historique. Un double critère a contribué à sélectionner le corpus età établir un plan : le rapport du personnage féminin au pouvoir et son lien avec une violencequi conduit nécessairement à un ou plusieurs crimes. Les chapitres de la première partie del’étude prennent en compte le cadre historique, social et idéologique de la figure de la reinedans la lignée des gender studies et analysent des exemples de souveraines qui à la foisdérangent, troublent mais fascinent. Notre référence-clé est celle de la reine-roi, un personnageexcessif qui subvertit les normes du genre et de l’autorité jusqu’à devenir un rôle d’exceptionpour les actrices de l’époque. La deuxième partie s’intéresse aux accès au pouvoir de la reineroi,à son exercice et à ses dérives tyranniques. L’analyse porte essentiellement sur les outilspropres à la scénographie, le travestissement mais aussi à la rhétorique. Dans une dernière partie sont abordées les perspectives psychologiques, criminologiques et judiciaires des violencescommises par les reines. Nous postulons des déviances parfois proches de folies ou depathologies irréversibles qui trouvent un dénouement exceptionnel sur la scène, à la hauteur de ces femmes hors normes. / The object of this thesis is to examine the character of the transgressive queen on theSpanish stage of the Golden Age, from a corpus of eight comedias published between 1609 and1653 by well-known dramatists (Virués, Tirso de Molina, Guillén de Castro, Rojas Zorrilla,Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca). The introduction helps to lay the foundations of a thoughtprocess which aims to bring out specific types of queens, inherited figures from a mythological,biblical or historical tradition. Two criteria contributed to selecting the corpus and shaping aplan - the female character’s relationship with power and her ties to violence which inevitablylead her to commit one or more crimes. The chapters in the first part of the study take intoaccount the historical, social and ideological representations of the Queen in line with thegender studies, and analyse examples of sovereigns that are both disturbing and unsettling andyet fascinating. Our key reference is the Queen-King – an excessive character subverting thegender and authority standards and whose role will be exceptional for actresses at the time. Thesecond part looks into the Queen-King access to power, her reign and her tyrannical outbursts.The analysis mainly pertains to the tools of scenography, of distortion but also of rhetoric. Thelast part deals with the psychological, criminal and judicial perspectives of violence, committedby the queens. We claim that some of the deviances occasionally border on madness orirreversible pathologies which find an exceptional outcome on stage, worthy of theseoutstanding women.