This artwork, by N.
Poussin, depicts the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint James, son of Zebedee and apostle of Jesus, during the apostle's mission in Spain. According to tradition, Our Lady, seated on a throne and surrounded by angels, appeared to Saint James in Spain in the year 40 AD, when the Blessed Mother was still living in Jerusalem. Our Lady asked the apostle to build a church in Zaragoza in her honor, giving him a pillar with her image on it to be placed in the church. She promised that her sanctuary would remain there until the end of time, as a place where she would pour graces on those who invoked her.
