Vatican obelisk

Last updated October 18, 2024

The Vatican Obelisk is an Egyptian obelisk, one of the thirteen ancient obelisks of Rome. This obelisk is located in St. Peter's Square, in Vatican City. It is the only ancient obelisk in Rome that has never fallen.^[1]^[2]

It is of Egyptian origin, devoid of hieroglyphs and comes (titles), according to Pliny,^[3] from the city of Heliopolis on the Nile. Before coming to Rome, it stood the Forum Iulii of Alexandria in Egypt. Emperor Caligula had it shipped to Rome in 40 AD, and placed it at the center of the Circus of Nero, the site of which is in modern times mostly in Vatican City. It remained in this position after the circus fell into disuse, occupied by a necropolis. In the 16th century it was moved next to the Old St. Peter's Basilica, at the Rotonda di Sant'Andrea.

History

Having stood in the same location in Rome since c.40 AD, it was moved almost 800 feet at the behest of Pope Sixtus V in a single day on September 10, 1586.^[1] The work was carried out under the direction of the architect Domenico Fontana who required thirteen months of preparatory work, 800 men, 160 horses and 45 winches to carry out the work. It was the first of Rome's obelisks to be raised in modern times. In the uplift operations there was a famous cry of a certain sailor Benedetto Bresca: Acqua alle funi ("Water on the ropes!"), in order to avoid the breakage of the ropes that were about to give in under the great weight of the obelisk.

The idea of moving the obelisk was first raised by Pope Nicholas V.^[4] Sixtus V's relocation was considered to be a symbolic act, illustrating the triumph of Christianity over Paganism. Following the successful relocation, Fontana was commissioned to move three smaller obelisks in Rome.^[5]

A detailed account of the relocation was published in Della transportatione dell'obelisco Vaticano e delle fabriche di Sisto V (Rome, 1590).^[6]^[7] The astronomer Ignazio Danti is known to have assisted Fontana in this work.

According to a popular medieval legend, the ancient bronze globe that crowned the obelisk was believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar or Trajan. On the occasion of the obelisk's relocation, the globe was presented to the city by Sixtus V. It was placed first on the Marforio fountain, then in 1692 on the balustrade of the Piazza del Campidoglio. In 1848 it was brought into the Palazzo dei Conservatori.^[8]

The granting of a perpetual indulgence of ten years and as many quarantines to those who, in front of the obelisk, venerate the cross of Christ by reciting Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary, made it assumed that Sixtus V had placed in the great bronze cross placed on the obelisk a particle of the True Cross on September 26, 1586, albeit during a later restoration of the cross, no relic was found. However, on April 12, 1740, it was placed and taken from a reliquary of the basilica of St. Peter, already that of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.

Inscriptions

The obelisk and its base contain a number of inscriptions. Two ancient inscriptions at the base of the shaft describe its original dedication in Rome, four inscriptions on the pedestal composed by Cardinal Silvio Antoniano describe its rededication in 1586, and lower down, in smaller script, is an acknowledgement of Domenico Fontana's role in the moving of the obelisk.

	Obelisk shaft	South (base)	North (base)	East (base)	West (base)	North (base, lower)
Latin	DIVO CAESARI DIVI F AVGVSTO TI CAESARI DIVI AVGVSTI F AVGVSTO SACRVM	SIXTVS V PONT MAX / OBELISCVM VATICANVM / DIS GENTIVM / IMPIO CVLTV DICATVM / AD APOSTOLORVM LIMINA / OPEROSO LABORE TRANSTVLIT / ANNO M D LXXXVI PONT II	SIXTVS V PONT MAX / CRUCI INVICTAE / OBELISCVM VATICANVM / AB IMPVRA SVPERSTITIONE / EXPIATVM IVSTIVS / ET FELICIVS CONSECRAVIT / ANNO MDLXXXVI PONT II	ECCE CRVX DOMINI / FVGITE / PARTES ADVERSAE / VICIT LEO / DE TRIBV IVDA	CHRISTVS VINCIT / CHRISTVS REGNAT / CHRISTVS IMPERAT / CHRISTVS AB OMNI MALO / PLEBEM SVAM / DEFENDAT	DOMINICVS FONTANA EX PAGO MILI / AGRI NOVOCOMENSIS TRANSTVLIT / ET EREXIT
English translation	Sacred to the Divine Caesar Augustus, son of the Divine, to Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the Divine Augustus	Sixtus V, Pontifex Maximus, by a laborious task, transferred to the threshold of the Apostles the Vatican obelisk, dedicated in impious reverence to the gods of the heathen, in the year 1586, the second of his pontificate	Sixtus V, Pontifex Maximus, consecrated to the invincible cross the Vatican obelisk, expiated of impure superstition, in the year 1586, the second of his pontificate	Behold, the Cross of the Lord. Take flight hostile ranks, the Lion of Judah, has conquered	Christ conquers. Christ reigns. Christ commands. May Christ defend his people from all evil	Domenico Fontana, of the town of Mili in the territory of Como, moved and erected this

Gallery

The obelisk in the Circus of Nero Maarten van Heemskerck, 1532
Mural (1585–1588) in the Vatican Library of the re-erection in St. Peter's Square
Bronze globe and spike from the top of the obelisk, now in the Capitoline Museums

Related Research Articles

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An obelisk is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called tekhenu, the Greeks used the Greek term obeliskos to describe them, and this word passed into Latin and ultimately English. Though William Thomas used the term correctly in his Historie of Italie of 1549, by the late sixteenth century, Shakespeare failed to distinguish between pyramids and obelisks in his plays and sonnets. Ancient obelisks are monolithic and consist of a single stone; most modern obelisks are made of several stones.

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References

1 2 Tronzo, W. (2005). St. Peter's in the Vatican. Cambridge University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-521-64096-1. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
↑ Dibner, B. (2017). Moving the Obelisks:: A Chapter in Engineering History in which the Vatican Obelisk in Rome in 1586 was Moved by Muscle Power. Muriwai Books. ISBN 978-1-78720-481-2. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2024-02-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ Hall, M.B. (2005). Rome. Artistic Centers of the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge University Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-521-62445-9. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
↑ Moffett, M.; Fazio, M.W.; Wodehouse, L. (2003). A World History of Architecture. Monographics (Series : Laurence King Publishing). Laurence King. p. 30-IA56. ISBN 978-1-85669-371-4. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
↑ "New York Public Library digital collections". Archived from the original on 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
↑ "Della trasportatione dellªobelisco Vaticano et delle fabriche di Nostro Signore Papa Sisto". Archived from the original on 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
↑ Stuart Jones, H., ed. (1926). A Catalogue of the Ancient Sculptures Preserved in the Municipal Collections of Rome: The Sculptures of the Palazzo dei Conservatori. London. p. 171, no. 3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Bibliography

Armin Wirsching, Obelisken transportieren und aufrichten in Aegypten und in Rom, Norderstedt 2007, 3rd. ed. 2013 ISBN 978-3-8334-8513-8
L'Italia. Roma (guida rossa), Touring Club Italiano, Milano 2004
Cesare D'Onofrio, Gli obelischi di Roma, Bulzoni, 1967

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[Tronzo_2005_p._26-1] 1 2 Tronzo, W. (2005). St. Peter's in the Vatican. Cambridge University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-521-64096-1. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.

[Dibner_2017_p.-2] Dibner, B. (2017). Moving the Obelisks:: A Chapter in Engineering History in which the Vatican Obelisk in Rome in 1586 was Moved by Muscle Power. Muriwai Books. ISBN 978-1-78720-481-2. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2024-02-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[Hall_2005_p._282-4] Hall, M.B. (2005). Rome. Artistic Centers of the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge University Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-521-62445-9. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.

[Moffett_Fazio_Wodehouse_2003_p._30-IA56-5] Moffett, M.; Fazio, M.W.; Wodehouse, L. (2003). A World History of Architecture. Monographics (Series : Laurence King Publishing). Laurence King. p. 30-IA56. ISBN 978-1-85669-371-4. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.

[6] "New York Public Library digital collections". Archived from the original on 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2024-02-24.

[7] "Della trasportatione dellªobelisco Vaticano et delle fabriche di Nostro Signore Papa Sisto". Archived from the original on 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.

[8] Stuart Jones, H., ed. (1926). A Catalogue of the Ancient Sculptures Preserved in the Municipal Collections of Rome: The Sculptures of the Palazzo dei Conservatori. London. p. 171, no. 3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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