[2] During the Middle Ages the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Grace was a famous pilgrimage destination, and attracted many pilgrims including Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon.
[4] Whether it was brought there by Catholic sailors, according to local legend, or simply sold by associates of Thomas Cromwell, the Nettuno statue appears to bear an English provenance.
[6] Every year parishioners from St. Mary's and the Roman Catholic Church of St. Pancras join in a pilgrimage to the former site of the Shrine, which was just outside the city's west gate.
[7] It was acquired by Cardinal Jean Allarmet, who gave it to his secretary Fursy de Bruille, a canon of the Cambrai cathedral chapter, in Rome in 1440.
An oil painting of the 15th or 16th century, according to legend, it was discovered by a Carmelite friar in a rubbish heap in the Trastevere and miraculously spoke to him while he was attempting to clean it.
Catherine Labouré, a French member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, reported that in 1830, she experienced a vision of Mary in the convent chapel on the Rue du Bac, in Paris.