PROPERTY FROM THE DON BENITO J. LEGARDA JR. COLLECTION

ABOUT THE WORK

Also from Legarda’s collection of altar furnishings is this pair of columns that would have once been part of large retablo. These columns, with their spiral carvings are known as Solomonic columns. The architectural name -- “Barley sugar ‘columns-- sounds much less magisterial than the reference to the great king of the Jewish nation. The reference to Solomon comes from a legend that the Emperor Constantine brought such spiralling columns from the ruins of Solomon’s temple to Rome, where they are still to be found at St. Peter’s. The examples here are topped with Doric capitols in the shape of acanthus leaves. The spirals are embellished with foliate reliefs suggesting entwined garlands.