The Mass of Saint Gregory

Israhel van Meckenem

National Gallery of Art

This print depicts a scene inside a church with a gathering around an altar. In the center of the print, a man sits, emerging from a hollow structure on top of the altar. The man is bare chested, with long flowing hair and a halo around his head. He looks down, his head turned to the left and his hands on top of one another. He has a wound on his chest and one on the back of his visible hand. Behind him is a large cross, which stands in front of several tall panels decorated with scenes of conflict and battle. There are two tall candles on either side of him, and an open book and a chalice are in front of him. A large group of people is gathered around the sides of the altar, with three men in the front kneeling in front of it. These men all wear robes and are bald on the tops of their heads. The architecture of the church features pointed arches in the ceiling with ribbed vaults. The floor below the gathered group is a grid of small squares. There is a small line of text at the bottom of the print, and the background is beige paper.