{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.plague-column","code":"thing-q26789694","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q26789694/","name":"plague column","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.4","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.BLT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A monumental column erected in a town square in thanksgiving for the end of a plague epidemic, typical of Catholic Central Europe from the 17th and 18th centuries, usually Baroque, topped by the Virgin Mary or the Holy Trinity and adorned with plague saints such as Roch, Sebastian and Charles Borromeo, as in the Vienna Pestsaule of 1693 and the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc, a World Heritage Site.","purpose":"Let an agent explain plague columns and their history, relay iconography, examples and conservation from art history sources, describe their religious and civic meaning respectfully, and distinguish plague columns from Marian and Trinity columns erected for other reasons, from war memorials and from obelisks.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Plague thanksgiving","Baroque","Plague saints","Central Europe"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What a plague column is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is a plague column, and how does it differ from other Marian and Trinity columns, war memorials and obelisks?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about the type, a specific column, iconography or conservation?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"examples","name":"Examples","description":"Examples.","findings":[{"id":"examples-finding","name":"Examples","description":"Examples.","questions":[{"text":"What are the Vienna Pestsaule, the Olomouc column and other notable examples?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific column?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"art","name":"Art","description":"Art and iconography.","layers":[{"id":"iconography","name":"Iconography","description":"Iconography.","findings":[{"id":"iconography-finding","name":"Iconography","description":"Iconography.","questions":[{"text":"Which saints and symbols appear, and what do they mean, presented respectfully?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"style","name":"Style","description":"Style.","findings":[{"id":"style-finding","name":"Style","description":"Style.","questions":[{"text":"How did Baroque sculptors and architects design plague columns?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","layers":[{"id":"plague","name":"Plague","description":"Plague context.","findings":[{"id":"plague-finding","name":"Plague","description":"Plague.","questions":[{"text":"Which epidemics prompted the columns, and how did towns vow and fund them?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific epidemic?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"spread","name":"Spread","description":"Spread.","findings":[{"id":"spread-finding","name":"Spread","description":"Spread.","questions":[{"text":"How did the type spread across Habsburg lands?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits Baroque architecture?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"Today.","layers":[{"id":"conservation","name":"Conservation","description":"Conservation.","findings":[{"id":"conservation-finding","name":"Conservation","description":"Conservation.","questions":[{"text":"How are plague columns conserved and restored?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits stone conservation?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"meaning","name":"Meaning","description":"Meaning today.","findings":[{"id":"meaning-finding","name":"Meaning","description":"Meaning.","questions":[{"text":"How are plague columns seen today, including after COVID-19?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits public monument?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe plague columns, their history and iconography from heritage sources.","Monitor and report the condition of a column for its custodians, such as cracks, erosion or vandalism."],"mustNot":["Climb, attach fixtures to or clean a protected monument without the custodian's permission.","Remove or damage sculptures, inscriptions or offerings at a column.","Mock or disrespect the column's religious meaning to the community that keeps it."],"requiresHuman":["Any conservation, restoration or relocation work.","Holding events or installations at the monument."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Plague columns are sacred thanksgivings and also memorials to mass death.","They are listed heritage; damage is permanent loss to a town."],"affectedParties":["Local communities","Religious congregations","Heritage authorities"]},"owners":{"steward":"The town or church that owns it, under the national heritage authority.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["National heritage monument registers"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q125503594","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q51845395","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"plague memorial","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"memorial column","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"Pestsaule, Vienna","type":"related","note":"of 1693"},{"target":"Saint Roch","type":"related","note":"a plague saint"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.plague-column","Wikidata: Q26789694 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26789694)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vienna Pestsaule: 1693 year - after the 1679 plague","Olomouc column height: 35 m - UNESCO 2000","period: 17th-18th centuries note"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["Baroque votive column for the end of plague","Vienna Pestsaule, Olomouc Holy Trinity Column, columns in Prague, Kutna Hora and Hungary","Marian and Trinity columns may have other motives; war memorials commemorate wars; obelisks are secular or Egyptian","A tall Baroque column or pillar with saints and clouds, crowned by a religious figure."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the monument type","relay iconography and examples","describe meaning","distinguish related monuments"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Confusing with other votive columns","Weathering of sandstone sculpture","Disrespectful framing of religious meaning"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Heritage protection and UNESCO World Heritage listing"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Commemorating the end of a plague.","Trinity plague columns","Marian plague columns","columns with plague saints Roch, Sebastian and Rosalia","plague columns in Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Germany"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q26789694: plague column","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26789694","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia (de): Pestsäule","url":"https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pests%C3%A4ule","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should Marian column and Trinity column be linked as separate entries?","How should art history sources be linked?","How should the registry list notable examples?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q26789694/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q26789694/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T15:04:03Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"filled","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-08T19:09:52+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}