PAIR OF SOLOMONIC COLOMNS. GUILDED WOOD. SPAIN, CIRCA SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY.
Antiques -
Reference: ZF0934
Pair of Solomonic columns. Carved and gilded wood. Spain, towards the second half of the 17th century. Pair of columns made of carved and gilded wood composed of a simple base with smooth mouldings, a Solomonic shaft decorated with branches with vine leaves and bunches of grapes, and a composite capital. The Solomonic column was an element used in the history of Christian art from time to time, although it was a common architectural motif during the Baroque period and, above all, since Bernini used it in the canopy of St. Peter's in the Vatican (finished in 1633), from when it became popular throughout Europe. It soon reached Spain: there are examples in Andalusia from around 1639; in Madrid they can be seen from 1636 (it seems that it was used for the first time in the Church of Buen Suceso); and it spread rapidly throughout peninsular and colonial territories. Although there are examples decorated with flowers (normally in altarpieces of female cloistered convents) or with birds, the most common typology is the one that uses vine leaves and bunches of grapes as a decorative element along the Solomonic shaft, thus alluding to the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Compare, for example, the pair preserved in the Sorolla Museum in Madrid, dating from the 18th century; works by José Benito de Churriguera and his family (Churrigueresque); etc.
· Size: 36x36x234 cms
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