The 15th-century image of the Virgin with the Child, originally painted on one of the columns of the old St. Peter’s Basilica, was venerated as miraculous during the Holy Year of 1575. This led to its transfer to the new basilica, which was under construction at the time. In 1963, Pope Paul VI granted the image the title Mother of the Church. In 1981, it became the model for the mosaic commissioned by Pope John Paul II that overlooks St. Peter’s Square from the façade of the Apostolic Palace. Listen to Prof. Pietro Zander, Head of the Vatican Necropolis and Classical Antiquities of the Fabric of St. Peter.