Pair Of Twisted Columns

17th century

Pair of twisted columns

(2) Polychrome and gilded wood, 155 cm high



The twisted column is better known by the name of the Solomonic column since according to Christian tradition they are the element suggested by God to Solomon at the time of the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem (10th century) and therefore considered divine architecture. Already used in the early imperial age, especially in sarcophagi, the twisted column is an architectural variation of the classic long-limbed shaft that also spread in the early Christian environment. It is from 70 AD that the twisted column acquired a religious significance: after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, Emperor Constantine donated the twisted columns of Parian marble to adorn the altar of the basilica to be built dedicated to the apostle Peter. These columns, originally six then increased to twelve by Pope Gregory III in the 17th century, went on to formalize the ancient pergula (divisional structure between the choir space and the central nave) of St. Peter's.

Widely used in the Romanesque age, twisted columns were set aside in the Renaissance era when we returned to looking at the classicism of the smooth or fluted column, they reappeared in Rome at the beginning of the 16th century first in the paintings of Raphael and his school and then in mannerist architecture; up to the splendor of the Baroque period as evidenced by the famous example that set the tone: the Baldacchino created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1624 in St. Peter's Basilica, where the gigantic twisted bronze columns are inspired by those of the ancient basilica.From the points of view of the religious meaning for the Christian tradition, he who wins the battles of the spirit is compared to a pillar (Revelation, 3,12).