The Mass of Saint Gregory

According to Christian legend, while celebrating Mass, Pope Gregory I prayed for a sign to convince a doubting congregant about transubstantiation—the belief that the consecrated bread and wine are the flesh and blood of Jesus, a central tenet of the Catholic faith. Here, Christ is shown miraculously appearing above the altar at right, in front of Gregory kneeling amid his startled congregation. Although the original model for the print is lost, an inscription on the plate notes that Simon Frisius created the etching based on a design by Jan Gossaert, a Netherlandish painter who was active almost 100 years earlier.