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Mariensäule

St Mary's column

 Johann Jacob Pock
Balthasar Herold (Wien)
1664/66 (1647)

Wien / Mariensäule   Wien / Mariensäule

Description

Bronze statue (until 1730 gilded) of St. Mary with folded hands, standing on a dragon shot with an arrow. The statue stands on a cast iron Corinthian column
At each corner of the column's pedestal is a statue of a putto. These four putti are each depicted fighting a different beast, symbolizing the city's overcoming of adversities, each has a shield with text:
Mariensäule (Wien) - Putto with snake

heresy - snake, on shield ambvlabis / svper

Mariensäule (Wien) - Putto with dragon

hunger or famine - dragon, on shield ipsa / conteret

pestilence - a basilisk (cockatrice), on shield Non Pro Te Lex

Mariensäule (Wien) - Putto with lion

war - a lion, on shield Concvl- / cabis

The texts on the shields show references to bible texts:
Psalm 91, 13: Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis, et conculcabis leonem et draconem (Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet).
Genesis 3,15: Ipsa conteret caput tuum (It shall bruise thy head).
Esther 15, 13 (also 4, 60): Non morieris: Non enim pro te, sed pro omnibus haec lex constituta est (You shall not die: for this law is not made for you, but for all others).

Inscription(s)

LEOPOLDVS
Rom. Imp. Semp. Avg.
Statvam hanc
Honori Virginis
Sine macvla Conceptæ
ab Avg. Patre svo erectam
et pretio avxit,
et immortalitate donavit.
Nam, qvam lapideam invenit
Avstriaca pietate, ac voto
Æream fecit, et æternam,
Vt cvivs beneficio
Coronas, Victorias, Pacem,
Et Svccessionem accepit,
Eidem hæc omnia,
Ac Seipsvm debere
testaretvr.
Anno
M.DC.LXVII.
Die VIII. Dec. 		IN SVPER
voveo ac promitto,
eivsdem immaculatæ
conceptionis festvm
qvod cadit in diem viii
dec: solenniter, etiam
qvoad forvm, in hac pro
vincia qvot annis prævio,
more ecclesiæ, consveto
ieivnio, eivsdemq; festi
pervigilio, celebrandvm
te deprecor svpreme
coeli, terræq; imperator
qvi, qvod matri tva e
impenditvr, tibi impensvm
repvtas, votvm hoc mevm
qvod svggerere clemener
dignitatvs es, beni gno
favore proseqvere; atqve
ad protegendvmme, domvm
meam, polvlosqve mihi
svbiectos, dextram tvæ
maiestatis extende,
amen 		DEO
optimo, maximo,
svpremo coeli, terræq;
imperatori,
per qvem reges regnant:
virgini deiparæ
immacvlate conceptæ
per qvam principes imperant,
in pecvliarem dominam
avstriæ patronam,
singvlari pietate svsceptæ
se, liberos, popvlos,
exercitvs, provincias,
omnia deniq; comfidit,
donat, consecrat, et in
perpetvam rei memoriam
statVaM hanC
eX Voto ponIt
fernanDVs III
aVgVstVs
die 17 may 		Ferdinandi
III
Pii, eet Ivsti,
VOTVM,
Omnipotens sempi
terne devs, per qvem
reges regnant in cvivs
manv svnt omnivm
potestates, et omnivm
ivra regnorvm, ego
FERDINANDVS
coram divina tva maiestate
hvmititer prostratq. meo,
meorvmqve svccessorvm
et inclytæ hvivs provinciæ
avstriæ nomine,
IMMACVLATAM
filii tvi matrem semper viginem
MARIAM
hodie in pecvliarem dominā
eet patronam hvivs archi
dvcatvs invoco
et assvmo
Last lines
Chronogram 1644

Signature

g?oss Mich Balthasar Herold / in wien

Annotation

The column is a copy of the marble monument of 1645 by Johann Jacob Pock. This column was in 1667 placed in Wernstein am Inn.
The monument is very similar to the Mariensäule in München.

Marian, Holy Trinity and Plague Columns (Mariensäule, Dreifaltigkeitssäule, Pestsäule)

Marian and Holy Trinity columns are religious monuments with a statue of Saint Mary or a depiction of the Holy Trinity on top of a column. Around the base of the column are usually various saints. Marian columns were built to thank the Virgin Mary for intervention to quell the pestilence and other scourges. The first of those was erecrted in Vienna in 1667 (Mariensäule) and the second in 1679 also in Vienna at the Graben, the Pestsäule.
The purpose of the Holy Trinity columns was usually simply to celebrate the church and the faith, although the plague motif could play a role.
Erecting religious monuments in the form of a column surmounted by a figure or a Christian symbol was a gesture of public faith that flourished in the Catholic countries of Europe especially in the 17th and 18th centuries (Wikipedia)

Sculptor

Sources & Information

Tags

  • Dragon
  • Famine
  • Heresy
  • Herold (Wien), Balthasar
  • Honger
  • Lion
  • Marian Column
  • Mary, St.
  • Pestilence
  • Plague Column
  • Pock, Johann Jacob
  • Snake
  • War

    • Locatie (N 48°12'40" - E 16°22'4") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

    Item Code: atwi047; Photograph: 9 September 2012
    Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
    If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
    © Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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