Our Lady of the Pillar
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Our Lady of the Pillar is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of the traditional belief that Mary, while living in Jerusalem, supernaturally appeared to the Apostle James the Greater in AD 40 while he was preaching in what is now Spain. Those who adhere to this belief consider this appearance to be the only recorded instance of Mary exhibiting the mystical phenomenon of bilocation. Among Catholics, it is also considered the first Marian apparition, and unique because it happened while Mary was still living on Earth.
The image of Our Lady of the Pillar wearing her canonical crown
Apparition of the Virgin of the Pillar to Saint James and his Saragossan disciples by Francisco Goya, c. 1769
Our Lady of the Pillar by Ramón Bayeu, 1780
The work represents the Virgen del Pilar, patroness of Spain.
James the Great
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James the Great was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles to die, and the first to be martyred. Saint James is the patron saint of Spain and, according to tradition, his remains are held in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
St James the Elder (c. 1612–1613) by Peter Paul Rubens
James the Apostle, detail of the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, 6th century
Shield with symbol of St. James the Great, Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)
Saint James the Elder was painted by Rembrandt in 1661. He is depicted clothed as a pilgrim, with a scallop shell on his shoulder, and his staff and pilgrim's hat beside him.