[THE TRIUMPH OF THE EUCHARIST, ~ Christ as the Man of Sorrows supported by two angels standing in a chalice or grail. Italian, in the style of Remondini family, ?Bassano, later seventeenth century].
Large woodcut print (390 × 285 mm, sheet size 395 × 300 mm), contemporary hand colouring (red, blue, orange and yellow), some soiling around the face of Christ, slight loss at blank upper right hand corner, small hole to upper right corner slightly affecting an angel’s wing and the sky behind, small repaired tear to lower panel (no loss), the print laid to a sheet of modern paper.
The holy grail — the crucified Christ standing within a chalice, his wound from the soldier’s spear bleeding freely into it, his arms supported by angels. A host of kneeling figures with candles, one swinging a censer kneel on either side. The lower panel depicts the Last Supper (complete with a small dog) with the text: ‘Sia laudato il santissimo sacramento’ (’Let the most holy sacrament be praised’). Early Christian tradition held that Christ’s blood was collected by Mary Magdalen at the time of the crucifixion in a vessel, though in images like this the symbolism is developed to depict blood flowing directly into the chalice in which Christ stands, emphasising the traditional connection between this vessel and the cup used at the Last Supper, and expressing the essence of transubstantiation at the Eucharist.
The image may be comprised of two woodblocks, though the borders are continuous around the whole print. Though probably dating from the seventeenth century, the block was clearly old when this impression was made, it shows some degradation, cracking and several circular wormholes. The area around Christ’s face is notably rubbed and soiled, possibly from kissing or touching as a mark of pious veneration.