2-705-734 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Pius IX', mid-late 19th century. Portrait of Pope Pius IX (born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti, 1792-1878), who was elected Pope in 1846. His pontificate was the longest of the post-apostolic era. A conservative, Pius proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, and in 1869 convened the First Vatican Council, which declared the doctrine of papal infallibility.