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Saint Mary's Column

Wilhelm Felser
1701

Description

St. Mary's column with a statue of St. Mary on a sphere and crushing a serpent, on a column, and four saints around the base:

Sv. Antonín Paduánský, with the Infant Jesus
born Fernando Martins de Bulhões, (Lisbon c. 1195 - Padua 1231), priest and friar of the Franciscan Order, known for his preaching and expert knowledge of scripture (Wikipedia).
Sv. Florian, extinguishing a fire.
(d. c. 304), commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum, responsible for organizing firefighting brigades. Martyred because is did not want to sacrifice to Roman gods. He is usually depicted as a Roman officer pouring water from a pitcher over a fire (Wikipedia).
Sv. Jan Nepomucký
(Nepomuk c. 1345 - Praha 1393), confessor of the queen of Bohemia, refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. At the behest of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia he was thrown from the Charles Bridge in Prague and drowned. John of Nepomuk is patron saint of bridges (Wikipedia)
Sv. Jakub Starší, as a pilgrim with scallop shells.
(d. 44), one of the Twelve Apostles. Patron saint of pilgrims, soldiers and cavalrymen. Depicted holding a pilgrim's staff decorated with a scallop shell. His remains are in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia (Spain) (Wikipedia).

Sv. Antonín Paduánský
St. Anthony of Padua

Sv. Florian
St. Florian

Sv. Jan Nepomucký
St. John of Nepomuk

Sv. Jakub Starší
St. James the Great

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)

Artist

Wilhelm Felser, sculptor of Cheb

Sources & Information

Mĕsto Sokolov, History.

Location (N 50°10'50" - E 12°38'21") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: czkv006; Photograph: 19 February 2011
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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