Roma - Obelisco della Minerva

The "Obelisco della Minerva" (aka "Bernini elephant", "Elephant and Obelisk") is the smallest of all Egyptian obelisks in Rome. It was found during excavations in the garden of a nearby Dominican abbey in 1665.

Pope Alexander VII commissioned Lorenzo Bernini to design an elegant "substructure" for the small obelisk. Various preparatory drawings and sketches done by Bernini still exist.

Bernini may have been influenced by the popular romance "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili", probably written by Venetian Francesco Colonna. It was first published in 1499 with many woodcut illustrations. Seen on one of them is an artifical elephant ("elephantina machina") with an obelisk on his back. As well the story of Pope Leo X´s elephant Hanno ("Annone") was surely still popular. The Pope had received the Indian elephant as a gift from King Manuel I of Portugal. It came to Rome in 1514 - and died two years later.

The sculpture was probably executed by Bernini´s assistant Ercole Ferrata and was unveiled here in 1667.