A
gravitational lens refers to a distribution of matter (such as a
cluster of galaxies) between a distant source and an observer, that is capable of bending the light from the source, as it travels towards the observer. This effect is known as gravitational lensing and the amount of bending is one of the predictions of
Albert Einstein's
general theory of relativity. (Classical physics also predicts bending of light, but only half that of general relativity's.)