8 - Baroque

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In Vienna, baroque reigns supreme! In response to the Protestant Reformation, Catholic-minded leaders demanded that art and architecture reflect the sensibilities of the Church. Many statues and churches were built as votive offerings to God, for such things as battle victories or stopping the plague. These offerings, constructed in the baroque style, are characterized by their awe-inspiring nature: grand displays of detailed emotion, drama, and movement. One baroque offering we often wander by when visiting the Ringstrasse and its inner city is the Trinity Column (often referred to as the "Plague Column.")

An interesting drawing of the Plague Column by Ernst Graner c. 1923

The column. Photo from Wikipedia.

As you can see, this outstanding statue is flecked with bright gold detail. Many aspects of the number three are present on the column - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit being represented, thus the name "Trinity Column." However, the parts of the sculpture also echo the number three: the base, representing man, shows a witch being defeated (the witch being symbolic of the plague itself.) The part also shows Leopold I praying, as a voice between God and man. Because of this, the monument also represents a sort of victory statue to Leopold's reign.

The witch. Photo by Manuel Hurtado.

The column itself depicts angels as a channel between man and God (the second section,) while the final section and very top represents the Holy Trinity itself. The brilliance of the gold sparkles in the sunlight. 

On Thursday, August 8th, we attended a Vivaldi concert in another classic baroque setting: the Karlskirche, completed in 1737. 

The interior of the Karlskirche.

The dramatic stylings of baroque aesthetic were all present: the gold, the drama, the emotion. Angels and God's splendor were on full display, a backdrop to the classical concert we watched (no photos allowed of that part!) The Hebrew located in the centerpiece was particularly interesting to me.

It spells out 
יהוה
or YHWH. The strangeness of this word comes from the fact that in the Jewish tradition, God's name is
supposed to be unpronounceable. It's usually anglicized as "Yahweh," but in Hebrew you would say "Adonai."
I personally have never seen the YHWH letters in a church before, and particularly in a place of such prominence.
However, this mix of aesthetic elements is also typically baroque, and an addition of Hebrew to denote God's omnipresence
makes sense!


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