Scourge Pillar

Close up of the Scourge Column in Santa Prassede Church in Rome

Scourge column from an oak trunk from 1515 in the Chemnitz Castle Church

The whipping post , and Calvary , wayside is one of the Arma Christi to the Passion of Christ .

history

The depiction of the scourged Christ ( Christ on the scourge column , also "Christ on the column") found its way into Christian iconography in the 10th century . Christ is shown in the night before the crucifixion and tied to the whip column, often beaten by soldiers with whips and rods so that he appears before Pilate in a weakened state in the morning . Passion columns were created at the end of the 15th century and thematically combine symbols of passion in connection with the suffering of Christ. The instruments of suffering ( arma Christi , “weapons of Christ”) and human figures (e.g. the soldiers who took Jesus prisoner) are shown. A rooster is often depicted on the pillar to remind of the denial of Christ by Peter .

Such a pillar is not mentioned in the biblical gospels, rather it goes back to the Christian tradition. The following reflection on the Passion of Christ can be found around 1300:

“Then the elders withdrew and had him taken to a dungeon that was underground, the remains of which are still visible today. There he was tied to a stone pillar, of which a stump still stands today, as I learned from a brother who saw him. Nevertheless, for greater security, some armed men were left behind, who tormented him with mockery and curses all night long. [...] So they insulted him, now one, now the other, the whole night through words and deeds [...] So he stood upright tied to the column until morning. "

- Johannes de Caulibus : Meditationes vitae Christi

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  Wiesheiland, Christ on the pillar , Wieskirche

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  Christ on the pillar , Museu Afro-Brasil, São Paulo

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  Scourge column in the wayside chapel north of Frechholzhausen

See also

• Holy Week
• Ecce homo
• Flagellation Chapel in Jerusalem

literature

• Scourge column , in: Lexicon of Christian Iconography , Freiburg 1970, Volume II, p. 126.
• Swantje Volkmann: Scourge Column . In: RDK Labor . (2015)
• Hans Martin von Erffa: Christ in the dungeon . In: Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte , Volume 3, 1953, Sp. 687–692.

Web links

Commons : Scourge Column  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Passion column in Ahaus-Wessum (Church site - Diocese of Münster / Wessum )
• The column of torture and passion in Billerbeck (church site - Diocese of Münster / Billerbeck )
• Jesus on the scourge column in Münster (Church site - Diocese of Münster / Münster )
• Scourge column in the castle church in Chemnitz ( Schloßkirche / Chemnitz )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ chap. 70th chap. (according to RDK)