SALOMNICA

( (Spanish: Solomon-like), ) also called Barley-sugar Column, in architecture, a twisted column (q.v.), so called because in the Old St. Peter's Church in Rome there was such a pillar, which according to legend had been imported from the Temple of Solomon in ancient Jerusalem. When Gian Lorenzo Bernini redesigned New St. Peter's Basilica, he repeated the salomnica design in the columns that supported the baldachin, or canopy, over the altar. The structure, similar in appearance to the twisted stalk of a barley-sugar plant, became popular in the type of Spanish Baroque called Churrigueresque. It is among the most notable characteristics of the work of the three architect brothers of the Churriguera family. Followers of this school continued to imitate Jos Benito Churriguera's graceful salomnicas, especially those behind the altar of the church of San Esteban in Salamanca, Spain, well into the 18th century.