| In others, the column anticipates
Christ's (and Mary's) future suffering and Passion. Still another significance,
especially in representations of the Flight into Egypt, points to the end
or decline of pre-Christian culture. In this case, the column(s) are broken
or fall in ruins as the Holy Family is passing. A further connection between
Mary and the column or pillar rests on Ex 13.21 (pillar of fire and clouds
directing the people's journey). Now it is Mary who becomes the sure guide
for those who err. The miraculous translation of the icon of Good Counsel
from Scutari to Genazzano is sometimes depicted surrounded by a pillar of
clouds pointing out that Our Lady is protecting her own image. The marian
column is also assimilated with Sirach 24.4 which makes of her a wisdom
figure. The apparition of Our Lady to St. Bernard and St. James (Our Lady
of the Pilar) frequently show her on top of a column. Our Lady of or on
the column has a long but little explored history. Among the oldest reported
examples are those of Clermont-Ferrand (tenth c.) and Frankfurt (fifteenth c.).
Little is known about this type of Mary statues during the Middle Ages.
The genre becomes more prominent during the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries, when popular
miraculous images were placed on pillars (f. ex. The Pietŕ of Steinhausen/Schwaben;
Kirchberg/Niederösterreich; Notre Dame du Pilier in Chartres) in order to
allow pilgrims to walk around the statue or image (see "Schöne Madonna"
in Regensburg/Germany). Marian columns can be found in and outside of churches.
They are popular even today. Some are placed on fountains in cities, others
are combined with freestanding little shrines in rural areas. The Marian
columns achieved special prominence during the long period of Counter-Reformation.
One of the first baroque columns stands erected in front of Santa Maria
Maggiore. It was built under Paul V in 1614 by Carlo Madernas (bronze statue
by William Berthélot). The column is dedicated to Mary, virgin and mother,
who gave the world the true Prince of Peace. This column served as model
for the famous Patrona Bavarial column in Munich, erected during the reign
of Maximilian I of Bavaria in 1637/38. The bronze sculpture shows Our Lady
standing on the crescent moon in the posture and role of Queen of Heaven.
This column, and many others represents triumph and honor, but also a visual
and artistic program of Catholic counter-reformation, and of dedication
of the whole of Bavaria to Our Lady. Other cities such as Vienna (Ferdinand
III, 1647, Immaculata) and Prague (Johann Georg Bendl, 1650, Immaculata)
followed suit, as did most of the countries of the Habsburg monarchy. The
iconographical themes most frequently expressed were those of the Immaculate
Conception and Queen of Heaven, as well as that of "Maria Victrix". Many
of these marian columns have votive character, that is, they were the object
of a votum in times of war, famine and epidemics. They were rallying points
of politics and patriotism, and the reason and destination of pilgrimages.
Special confraternities were founded to care for maintenance and restoration.
The following pages show some examples of columns crowned with the effigy
of Our Lady. They are all from the region of Burgenland in Austria. The
photos were taken by Fr. J. Levit, S.M. Various themes are represented,
among them most prominently those of the Immaculata and the glorious or
victorious Queen of Heaven. |
