Not the plague again …

In my inbox this week I received an email with the title ‘Get your public art pitch ready with $5k funding from Test Sites Online’.  It appears that the City of Melbourne, through its ‘Test Sites’ program, is providing opportunities for artists to ‘explore and experiment with creative ideas in the public realm … in direct response to COVID-19’. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a public monument, information can be found at: https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/arts-and-culture/art-outdoors/public-art-melbourne/test-sites/Pages/opportunities.aspx Applications close on 31 May.

This made we wonder how events like the plague have been memorialized in other times and places – and then I discovered ‘Plague Columns’. These columns date back centuries and are particularly found in central Europe during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Wealthy citizens, fraternities and even emperors commissioned and erected the monuments to thank God for ending an epidemic.

One of the earliest examples is a Gothic column known as the Tutzsäule in a former cemetery in Klosterneuberg, Austria. This column was erected by a local citizen, Michael Tutz (hence the name), in 1381 to celebrate the end of a recent episode of the Black Death. This ‘pestsäule’ (German for plague column) is typical of the monuments erected.

Plague columns usually had three sides to represent the Holy Trinity. They were often dedicated to the Virgin Mary and had images of her and the various saints who were connected with saving the population from the plague.  As discussed in a previous post, St Roch, St Sebastian, St Barbara and St Charles Borromeo, were among the saints often represented. Due to their connection with the Virgin Mary, these columns were also known as Marian or Holy Trinity columns.

These monuments appear as ‘descendants’ from the monuments erected in Imperial Rome which often featured a column with the Emperor on top. The last of these columns was erected in the Roman Forum in 608CE and dedicated in honour of the Eastern Roman Emperor Phocas. Originally the column featured a dazzling gilded statue of Phocas but after he was overthrown two years later, it was removed. Given its structure, style and a re-chiselling of the text on the plinth (socle), this column is believed to be an example of ‘recycling’ and ‘re-purposing’.

The monument is still in its original location in Rome and its isolated and free-standing position has always made it both a landmark and a favourite of artists. In the Ruins of the Forum, Rome  c. 1743, by Bernardo Bellotto in the NGV collection, the column can be spotted in the distance on the right. Due to the accumulation of debris and silt, the base and socle remained completely buried until their excavation in the 19^th century – the reason these parts are not visible in the Bellotto painting.

The Christian practice of erecting columns with statues probably dates back to the 10^th century in France. However, following the Council of Trent (1545-1563) these monuments became increasingly common. One of the first was the column in the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome – another recycled monument. Originally part of the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine in Rome, it was ‘scavenged’ after the Basilica was destroyed by an earthquake in the 9^th century.  In 1614 is was transported to its current home and crowned with a bronze statue of the Virgin and Child. This column became the model for numerous other columns erected around Europe in thanksgiving for remission of the plague during the Baroque era.

There are many notable examples including the Mariensäule built in Munich in 1638, the Prague column from 1650 (celebrating the end of the Thirty Years War), the Pestsäule in Vienna from 1679 and the Holy Trinity Column in the Upper Square in Olomouc, Moravia (now the Czech Republic) 1716-1754. In the countries which formed part of the Hapsburg monarchy it is quite unusual to find an old town square without a prominently placed column!

The monument in Olomouc is an exceptional example of the extravagance and excess of the Baroque period. A ‘confection’ of stone and gilded copper, the column is dominated by statues of the Holy Trinity and the Archangel Gabriel on top with the Assumption of the Virgin beneath. The base is in three levels and has 18 stone sculptures of saints and 14 reliefs in cartouches. It is so large that a chapel is included within. This column is the only one which has been individually included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as an example of the ‘apogee of Central European Baroque artistic expression’.

Monuments which acknowledge adversity have played, and will continue to play, a significant role in shaping history. However, with the modest budget allocated by the City of Melbourne, we should probably not expect anything too grandiose.  It will be interesting to see what the local artistic community comes up with.