"Gathering the Manna" by Peter Paul Rubens - Ringling Art Museum, Sarasota, Florida, USA.
Note: Manna or bread is depicted as white flakes akin to the Host used during
Roman Catholic Mass.
Rubens created a cycle of compositions dedicated to the Eucharist and included Old
Testament scenes in the belief that they prefigured the Christian Eucharist by analogy.
The Gathering of the Manna is one of these.
In 1551 the Roman Church adopted the doctrine of transsubstantiation holding that when
bread is consecrated it becomes the holy host. Protestants believe that the bread
and wine contain the body and blood of Christ and are holy before they are
consecrated.
The wars between the Protestant and Catholics in the Low Countries gave rise to the
Protestant "Northern Provinces" (Holland) and Catholic "Southern Provinces" (Belgium).
The tension continues to the present.
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