Joseph Grassi (1758-1838) began studying at the Academy in Vienna in 1768. He soon began to move in aristocratic circles where he became a favoured portrait painter. After 1783 he moved to Warsaw where he again gained a reputation as a fashionable portrait painter. In 1800 he was appointed Professor of Fine Arts in Dresden, where he remained for most of his life. In 1804 he spent a sabbatical year in Gotha at the invitation of Augustus (Emil Leopold August), Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1772-1822), for whom he executed seven paintings illustrating scenes from fables written by the Duke.

The work was bequeathed to Prince Albert by Princess Caroline Amelia (1771-1848), his beloved step grandmother and the widow of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. This must have taken place after her death in 1848 and not in 1861 as stated in the 1876 catalogue of Osborne House. It is a copy after a famous painting by Carlo Dolci at Burleigh House, though this is said to be taken from a version in the Pitti Palace, Florence. Prince Albert owned the same composition in enamel on porcelain (RCIN 403618).

Christ appears half-length, seated behind a narrow table covered with a white cloth; He takes a loaf of bread from a pewter plate in his left hand and raises his right, gazing upwards; a chalice stands besides the plate.