Roman Charity is the exemplary story of a woman, Pero, who secretly breastfeeds her father, Cimon after he is incarcerated and sentenced to death by starvation. She is found out by a jailer, but her act of selflessness impresses officials and wins her father’s release. Maybe, I shouldn’t have told you the story of the painting, but I just mentioned it so that we can drift away from the original story.

What is your own explanation of what is happening in this picture. After all, it is a woman breastfeeding a full-grown man. Is it unacceptable under any circumstances? Can you imagine any other scenario (other than the original story above) that might justify what you see in the picture?

What if they were lovers, so there might be a love story happening behind bars and who knows what might he have done to get there. She stayed faithful to him, but the guards have seen them kissing and making out and who knows what they might do. What might have happened before this scene, or after it? Give it a shot and write about it; who knows where you might end up.

What if she were a lady from the castle and this man was nobody to her, and she just decides to give him some milk as an act of mercy. When the guards find out what has happened, they tell the king, who happens to be the father of this gentle lady. The king then decides to execute the prisoner, but the princess feels guilty about it and tries to get him out of this situation, but she gets into trouble, too. All these are just ideas and possibilities. You might have other ideas, but let’s start somewhere.

Write a short story, or a poem about what you can discern from this painting and share a link to your story with us here on Danny B. You can be generous and share a link to this writing prompt on your website or your social media.