Egyptian Obelisks - Rome
Going along the left-hand side
of the Pantheon, we reach the
Piazza della Minerva decorated
admirably by another monument by Bernini.
The
little obelisk of red granite, 5.47 metres tall,
was constructed in the 6th century B.C. by the
Pharaoh Apries,
and was rediscovered
in the
Dominican convent of Santa Maria sopra
Minerva.
Immediately after the
discovery, Pope Alexander VII Chigi decided to
erect it in the square in front of the church,
and entrusted the design
of the monument to
Bernini, who thought up the elephant as a base.
For the creation of the monument, Bernini
allegedly drew inspiration from
a novel published
in the late 1500s by Francesco Colonna, mindful
of the symbolism of Egyptian hieroglyphics. In
fact, the stele should
represent the divine
wisdom that descends from the strong mind
depicted by the elephant, as is also stated in
the inscription on the base,
with the warning
from Alexander VII: a strong mind is necessary to
support solid wisdom. The monument is known today
as the
Pulcino della Minerva (Minerva's Chick),
which derives from the 18th-century name of
Porcin della Minerva (Minerva's Piglet),
which stressed the elephant's resemblance to a
piglet.
From the Piazza della Minerva we can go towards
Piazza Montecitorio where, in front of the
palazzo which is the seat of the Parliament,
we
see the red granite obelisk originally erected in
the 6th century B.C. at Heliopolis by Pharaoh
Psammetichus II, and transported to Rome by
Augustus in 10 B.C.
Discovering Rome: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12
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