Votive column

[1] The presence of columns supporting votive sculptures in Ancient Greek temples is well attested since at least the Archaic period.

The oldest known example of a Corinthian column is in the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae in Arcadia, c. 450–420 BC.

[2] In Imperial Rome, it was the practice to erect a statue of the Emperor atop a column.

In 1614 it was transported to Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore and crowned with a bronze statue of the Virgin and Child.

Within decades it served as a model for many columns in Italy and other European countries, such as the Mariensäule in Munich (1638).