The Column of Flagellation at the Basilica di Santa Prassede
Upon entering the San Zeno Chapel, located in the Basilica di Santa Prassede, a dark marble object, spotted with white, lies in a niche to the right (Figure 1). The object appears to be an oddly large chess piece, but is allegedly the column upon which Jesus Christ was flogged in his final years. During the medieval crusades, it was very common to take spoils from Jerusalem and bring them back to Rome. Some were then placed in churches as relics—such as the column itself, the crown of thorns (now in Notre Dame in Paris), or the bones of St. Jerome (now in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore). The relic was taken from the Holy Land and brought to Rome in 1222 by Cardinal Giovanni Colonna the Younger—a member of the powerful Colonna family during the 13th century. Given to him by the King of Jerusalem after the Fourth Crusade, Colonna brought the column back to Santa Prassede, his cardinalate church since 1212 (the church that is given to a cardinal). The history of the column before 1222, however, is unclear. At the top of the column was a metal loop, where Christ was bound to during his flagellation. Before its move to the Chapel of San Zeno in 1699, the column was not completely visible by the pilgrims, and would only appear on feast days. Currently, the column is housed in a reliquary made of bronze, designed by Duilio Cambellotti in 1898. The column is also incorporated in other Roman monuments, such as the relief sculpture in the Chigi Chapel, located in Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pace, and one of the angels located on Ponte Sant’Angelo (Figure 2). While many scholars are skeptical of the true history that this column, it is a great example of translating relics from the Holy Land to Rome during the Crusades.
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