The historical context of creating a grotto in the Vatican Gardens is that on 8 December 1854 the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX at a column of the Piazza di Spagna adorned with a statue of the Madonna or Virgin Mary. The context of the dogma was further accentuated by the visionary message given by the Madonna to Bernadette Soubirous, a young girl of 14, that ``She'' was the ``Immaculate Conception'' and that a shrine should be established for her at Massabielle near Lourdes.
Madonna
Bernadette Soubirous