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Jodok-Fink-Platz (8.)

Mariensäule

Saint Mary's Column

1713

Description

Statue of Maria Immaculata on a sphere with snake and crescent moon. The statue is on top of a round column adorned with angels and clouds, and at the foot knighs with a shield. The column stands on a triangular base with inscriptions, and on the three corners angels. Around it stands statues of:

St. Anna
mother of the Virgin Mary. She is often depicted with Mary as a child or a young girl (Wikipedia).
St. Joachim
the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Wikipedia).
St. Joseph
the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ (in distinction to God, his "heavenly father") (Wikipedia).

Inscription(s)

Ab Ill. D D Georgio Constantino Comite et S R. Imp. Panniero Lib. Bar. de Simich in Loosdorff Trium Augustissimorum Leo- poldi I. Josephi I. et Caroli VI. Cam. 22 Annos Excelsi re- giminis Consiliario an- tiquissimae Prosa- piae suae ultimo	hæC ara In tesseraM speranDæ saLVtIs grassan te LVe posIta est	sIne Labe fILIæ, IoachIM & Annæ Ioseph DIVæ sponsæ honorI
	Chronograms for 1713

Translations?

Annotation

Installed in 1713 by Georg Constantin Graf Simich to express gratitude that a plague epidemic had come to an end.

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)

Sources & Information

Stadt Wien, Kulturgut.

Locatie (N 48°12'38" - E 16°20'59") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: atwi121; Photograph: 11 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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