Name of Monument:

St. Anne’s Column

Location:

Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria

Date:

1704–1706

Artists:

Cristoforo Benedetti (1660–1735)

Denomination / Type of monument:

Public monument (votive column)

Patron(s):

Estates of the Province of Tyrol

History:

The erection of St. Anne’s Column goes back to the liberation of Tyrol from the invading Bavarian and French troops, the so called “Bavarian Rummel” in the War of the Spanish Succession. On 26 July 1703, on the Feast of St. Anne, Tyrol was liberated from foreign rule. On 15 March 1704, the Estates of the Province of Tyrol vowed to erect St. Anne’s Column and commissioned the sculptor Cristoforo Benedetti. The inauguration took place on 26 July 1706.

Description:

The Corinthian column fashioned from red Kramsach marble is the work of the sculptor Cristoforo Benedetti from Trentino. The column is crowned with a Mary Immaculata, below which, on the cross shaped pedestal, are saintly figures at each point of the compass: To the north St. Anne, Mother of Mary, to the west, Cassian, the patron saint of the diocese of Brixen, to the east Vigilius, the patron saint of the diocese of Trent, and to the south, St. George with the dragon and the lance, the patron saint of the province. The plinth relief features putti with inscriptions. All figures and reliefs were executed in white marble; some of the saintly attributes are highlighted with gilding.

St. Anne’s Column is the most important example of a religious votive monument in Tyrol. It is a memorial to the liberation of Tyrol from the troops of the Bavarian Elector Max Emanuel in the War of the Spanish Succession who were repelled on the Feast of St. Anne. The column, crowned by a figure of the Virgin Mary on the crescent moon, together with the Mary Help Church, was an important centre for the public veneration of the Virgin Mary, initiated by the Estates of the Province of Innsbruck.

How Monument was dated:

Deeds, archives

Citation of this web page:

Frank Purrmann "St. Anne’s Column" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;at;Mon11;4;en

Prepared by: Frank Purrmann
Translation by: Colin Shepherd
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: AT 04