- 5th–6th century
- Made in Toulouse, Southern France
- Overall: 74 1/4 x 17 1/2 x 17 3/4 in. (188.6 x 44.5 x 45.1 cm)
- Credit Line:
- Purchase, Rogers Fund, and Henry Walters and George Blumenthal Gifts, 1921
- Accession Number:
This column (with its pair acc. no. 21.172.2), along with some twenty others, are all that remain of the “Golden Church” of La Daurade. The church, which derived its name from the Latin word meaning “gilded” (deaurata), was famous for the gold mosaics that covered the niches and walls of its seven-sided sanctuary. Rows of elegant columns framing the niches contributed to its lavish interior. Founded about 399 as a convent, the church had been converted to a monastery by the 800s, before being destroyed in 1761.