The Colonna dell'Immacolata Concezione is a

monumental sculpture The term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism, but not always consistently. It combines two concepts, one of function, and one of size, and may include an element of a third more subjective concept. It is often used for ...

, whose centerpiece is a bronze statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception atop a column, erected in 1631 on Piazza San Domenico in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Sicily. The monument, which stands in front of the church of

San Domenico San Domenico may refer to: Catholic saints * Dominic de Guzmán (1170-1221), Spanish priest and founder of the Dominican Order * San Domenico di Sora (951-1031), Italian abbot, patron saint of Villalago Churches * San Domenico, Arezzo (Basilica ...

is also referred to as the ''Colonna di San Domenico'' or ''Monumento all'Immacolata''. The 18th-century monument falls within the tradition for example, of the ''guglia'' or spire monuments common to Naples.

History

The work was commissioned during the rule of Sicily by King Charles VI of Naples, and designed by Tommaso Maria Napoli for this piazza, then known a Piazza Imperiale. Construction took place from 1724 to 1726, and was completed by

Giovanni Amico Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

. Atop a plinth made with white Carrara marble is a column made from gray Billiemi marble. The column was shortened to allow for the priest to see the Madonna from the main altar through the large window on the main facade. Perched on the top of the column in the bronze statue of the Immaculate Conception, sculpted by Giovan Battista Ragusa. Bronze depictions of four archangels, Gabriel, Michael, Rafael and Uriele, are at the base of the monument. Initially the plinth of the column also displayed bronze statues of Charles VI of Naples and his wife Elizabeth Christina of Brunswick. In 1750, these were switched for statues of

Charles V of Naples Charles II of Spain (''Spanish: Carlos II,'' 6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700), known as the Bewitched (''Spanish: El Hechizado''), was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War o ...

and his wife Maria Amalia Walburga. After 1945, these were replaced by order of the then Cardinal and Archbishop of Palermo,

Ernesto Ruffini Ernesto Ruffini (19 January 1888 – 11 June 1967) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Palermo from 1945 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1946 by Pope Pius XII. Biography Ruffini was ...

, who replaced them with the still-present statues of Pius IX, who promulgated the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1864; and Pius XII, who promulgated the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in 1950. The devotion to the Marian veneration of the Immaculate Conception, and its underlying assertion has thrived in Southern Italy. In 1624, the Senate of Palermo passed a decree vowing, with arms if necessary, to defend the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. In 1954, Cardinal Ruffino also started the tradition of having a fireman, using a fire-truck ladder to place a wreath of flowers at the feet of the Madonna.Provincial website
tourism entry. This replicates the ceremony established in 1953 in Rome for their Column of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza Mignanelli, towards the south east part of Piazza di Spagna.

References

Sicily Monuments and memorials in Palermo 1726 in Italy {{Italy-sculpture-stub