This was, as can be guessed, an uncompromising aversion for liberation and unification movements, which at that time set alight the emotions of the inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula, but also a project assuming the recognition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.  This did not concern the conception of Christ, but rather of the Virgin Mary herself – his mother, who – according to tradition – was the daughter of Anna and Joachim. The thesis that she was to “have been preserved from any trace of the original sin” had for centuries arisen theological doubts, even within the Church itself, which were harbored even by the most important of its representatives (Tomas Aquinas or Bernard of Clairvaux). However, Pius IX, had since the year 1849 made attempts in order to push this dogma through, which ultimately proved successful on 8 December, 1854. Due to this event religious fervor was awakened anew within the city, while indulgences and celebratory masses awaited pilgrims, directing the thoughts of the faithful towards the Immaculate Virgin Mary (Maria Immaculata). In these troubled times, in which the last ruler of the State of the Church reigned, the intercession of the Virgin Mary was to aid in overcoming the evil walking hand in hand with liberalism, republicanism and unifying tendencies. And it must be admitted that Pius IX succeeded in sparking the faith of the simple people and in encouraging them to acts of devotion and sincere, emotional religiousness.

The next step of the pope was the commemoration of this event, meaning construction of statues devoted to the Immaculate Virgin Mary. One of them is found at Piazza di Spagna, between Palazzo di Propaganda Fide and the Spanish Embassy. It was built at the behest of Pius IX, one year after announcing the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and it was financed by Ferdinand II, the ruler of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, as a sign of solidarity with the actions of the pope, but also as compensation (and equivalent) for the severing of the hundreds year-long tradition, which had since the XV century ordered the rulers of Naples and Sicily to regularly supply the pope with  noble breed of a horse and an appropriate sum of money.

Works on the statue were entrusted to Luigi Poletti – the very same, who was responsible for the post-fire reconstruction of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (San Paolo fuori le mura). The column itself, on which the statue of the Virgin Mary stands, was found as early as 1777 during renovation works in a Benedictine monastery on the Field of Mars. For centuries it   laid next to the Curia at Montecitorio, until it was used as a pedestal, of which the base is topped off with figures of prophets predicting the virgin birth of the Messiah – Moses (by Ignazio Jacometti), Isiah (Salvatore Revèlli), Ezekiel (Carlo Chelli) and David (Adamo Tadolini). Among them we will notice bas-reliefs depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary – The Annunciation, The Dream of St. Joseph, The Coronation of the Virgin Mary and the Announcement of the dogma of Her Immaculate Conception -   completed by other Roman sculptors. All of them were students of Pietro Tenerani and Bertel Thorvaldsen – thus representing the Neoclassical style, which enjoyed great popularity in Roman art between 1830 and 1860.

The column which was nearly 12 meters high, is finished with a composite capitol, in which with some difficulty we can make out the Marian Monogram. At the feet of the Virgin Mary standing upon it with a halo of twelve stars around her head, there are four bronze symbols of the Evangelists, which surround the globe. It is on this globe, or more appropriately on the crescent moon, that the Virgin Mary stands, crushing the serpent of sin with her foot. The statue itself as well as the elements made out of bronze were completed by Giuseppe Obici, also a student of Tenerani.

Every 8 December of the year, the pope prays in front of the column, while the figure of the Virgin Mary itself – barely visible since it was placed 20 meters above ground, is at that time decorated with flower wreaths.