Bernini's Elephant and Obelisk

Abstract

THE last work that Bernini and his assistants undertook for Pope Alexander VII is the monument erected in 1667 on the Piazza della Minerva in Rome (Fig. 1). It displays a small Egyptian obelisk that Bernini placed upon the back of an almost life-size marble elephant, who in turn stands on a high and narrow pedestal. The obelisk is crowned by the insignia of the Pope (Chigi mountains and Chigi star) with the Cross of Christ on top. Two plaques on the plinth bear dedicatory inscriptions. The monument occupies the approximate center of the Piazza, opposite the main entrance of the west façade of S. Maria sopra Minerva, with the axis of the elephant's body facing south.

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