Obelisk of the Minerva - Roma, Italy
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N 41° 53.878 E 012° 28.652
33T E 290754 N 4641525
Erected in 1667, the curious statue of an elephant carrying a small Egyptian obelisk is located in Piazza della Minerva in Rome, adjacent to the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. It is also known as the Pulcin della Minerva.
Waymark Code: WM10P2V
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 06/05/2019
Views: 5
The obelisk itself was dedicated by Pharaoh Apries in the 6th century BC, who is mentioned in the Bible as Hophrah (Jeremiah 44.30). It belonged to the then Egyptian capital of Sais originally, and was allegedly brought to the the Roman Isaeum by the emperor Diocletian in the late 3rd century. It was found buried by the Dominicans when they were building a new guest-house next to their garden in the mid 17th century. They had the influence to keep hold of it, in order to embellish their church.
The elephant was designed by Bernini, but carved by Ercole Ferrata who was one of his pupils. The original design was for a monument in the garden layout of Palazzo Barberini that Bernini sketched in the 1640's, but he used the idea for this location on the suggestion of Pope Alexander VII, who composed the inscription on the monument's plinth. The symbolism comes from a 15th century romance called the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.
The inscription reads: Sapientis Aegypti insculptas obelisco figuras ab elephanto, belluarum fortissima, gestari quisquis hic vides, documentum intellege robustae mentis esse solidam sapientiam sustinere. ("Whoever you are, who sees here the figures of the Egyptian wise man carved on the obelisk carried by the elephant, the strongest of wild animals, understand the symbolism to be that a strong mind supports firm wisdom.")
The bronze finial of the obelisk is the heraldic symbol of the Chigi family to which the pope belonged.
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