Pillar of the Immaculate Conception

Pillar of the Immaculate Conception, 2018

Column between 1890 and 1900

The Column of the Immaculate Conception ( Italian Colonna dell'Immacolata ) is a column in the Italian capital, Rome .

location

The column is located in the center of Rome in the Rione Campo Marzio at the southern end of the Piazza di Spagna at its opening to the Piazza Mignanelli.

Architecture and history

The ancient Corinthian column made of Cipollino marble was found in 1777, according to other sources, in 1778, at the monastery of Santa Maria Immacolata a Via Veneto on the Marsfeld . The then reigning Pope Pius VI. considered placing the column in the Piazza Montecitorio . However, this did not happen. Pope Pius IX decided in 1856 to use the column for a monument to the Immaculate Conception , which he had proclaimed as dogma on December 8, 1854. The almost twelve meter high column was erected accordingly and inaugurated in September 1857. The top of the column was crowned with a statue of the Virgin Mary created by Giuseppe Obici in 1857 . Mary is shown without a child; her head is crowned by twelve stars, her feet stand on the crescent moon and on the globe, which is surrounded by the four evangelist symbols. At the base of the column there are four Old Testament figures with associated Vulgate quotations , which were traditionally interpreted as Marian prophecies; the statue of King David is by Adamo Tadolini , that of the prophet Ezekiel by Carlo Chelli . In between, reliefs show scenes from the life of Mary .

Since Pius XII. in 1953, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th, the Pope honors the statue of Mary with the laying down of flowers and a prayer. Before that, the statue of the Virgin Mary is adorned with garlands of flowers by firefighters. Representatives of the city of Rome, around 100 people with disabilities and around 120 members of an association for sick pilgrimages are also present at the ceremony .

Base figure Moses with Latin Quote INIMICITIAS PONAM INTER TE ET MVLIEREM ( Gen 3.15 EU )
Base figure David (right) with Latin Quote SANCTIFICAVIT TABERNACVLVM SVVM ALTISSIMVS ( Ps 46.5 EU )
Base figure Isaiah with Latin Quote ECCE VIRGO concipiet ( Jes 7,14 EU )
Base figure Ezekiel with Latin Quote PORTA HAEC CLAVSA ERIT ( Ez 44.2 EU )