Category:The Veneration of the Eucharist by Jacob Jordaens

English: "The Veneration of the Eucharist is a religious allegory celebrating the Catholic conviction that during the consecration of the mass, bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Below the Holy Spirit, appearing in the form of a dove, is a female figure who may personify the Catholic faith or the Church. Seated on a lion, a reference to the Vlaamse Leeuw (flemish lion), she holds in her hand a monstrance containing a sacred host, a symbol of the eucharist. the woman is flanked by Saints Peter, Paul, Catherine, Rosalia and Sebastian. They are identified by their symbols and dress, as are the Latin Doctors of the Church below (Saints Augustine, Jerome, Gregory and Ambrose). The Christ Child, holding a cross and a flaming heart, triumphs over death and the Devil. Jordaens was internationally recognised as the leading painter in Antwerp, but only after the deaths of Rubens and Van Dyck in 1640 and 1641, respectively. Until then, his patrons had come mostly from the wealthy middle classes rather than the European courts. Given its large size and subject, it is likely that Jordaens painted this work as an altarpiece for a church." [1]