Der ewig stehende Fels der Romisch Katholischen Kirche / lith. by A. Hoen & Co., Balto.

This allegorical print, intended for an American Catholic audience, illustrates the official church response to the First Vatican Council of 1869-70, which decreed that the Pope is infallible. In the center of the image, St. Peter's Basilica rests on a massive rock--a reference to the assertion that papal authority descends from the Apostle Saint Peter. At the base of the rock are eight vignettes from the life of Christ with accompanying biblical citations. Each corner has one of the four evangelists, clockwise from left: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. John, and St. Luke. Two vignettes frame the basilica: the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary and Mary's Assumption into Heaven. Two vignettes frame the central image: Jesus presenting the keys to the kingdom to Peter (behind whom stand Pope Pius IX and other clerices) and Constantine showing the heavenly cross with the motto "In Hoc Signo Vinces" to Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor who issued a ban against Martin Luther and Henry II. (Source: Philadelphia Print Shop, 2009)