 Wheelock, citing his fellow academic at the University of Maryland, Quint Gregory, believes the slight overlapping of the chalice and the gold backdrop of the crucifix "may symbolically suggest the essential role of the Eucharist in bridging the physical and spiritual realms", a very Catholic idea.Selena Cant calls the fact that the book, chalice and crucifix together represent the Catholic Mass.The pose of the woman (hand on heart and eyes raised) is similar to Ripa's image of Theology.