OBELISK. 



OBELISK. 



10 



worthy that Mr. John Bell, the distinguished sculptor, without being 

 acquainted apparently with the Egyptian practice, was led to give 



Obelisks in front of the Temple of Luxor. 



precisely such an entasis to a monumental obelisk constructed by him, 

 ai the result of a series of tentative efforts made to overcome a seeming 

 concavity of surface and horizontal plan observed by him in his model, 

 and of which experiment he gave a full account in a paper read before 

 the Institute of Architects, in May, 1858. 



At one time there must have been a large number of obelisks in 

 Egypt, as they are traced all the way from Phikc to the Mediterranean. 

 South of the first cataracts there are none of large size, owing, as is 

 supposed, to the difficulty of conveying such large manes of granite up 

 the river from the quarries of Syene. Since the Romans became 

 masters of Egypt, the obelisks have been made a constant prey, and 

 comparatively few are now left standing. Augustus was the first who 

 removed any of these monoliths : one he caused to be placed in the 

 Campus Martius, another in the Circus. The great obelisk of the 

 Lateran was conveyed from Heliopolis to Alexandria by Constantino, 

 and from thence removed by that emperor's son Constantius to Rome, 

 where it was erected in the Circus Maximus. This obelisk in the largest 

 now known, its shaft being 105 ft. (although it has been reduced, a 

 portion at the lower part having been cut off in consequence of being 

 fractured), and two of its sides, 9 ft 84 in., the other two 9 ft. ; the 

 shaft weighs about 445 tons. That which was originally brought from 

 Heliopolis, and placed in the Vatican Circus, and which now stands in 

 the piazza of St. Peter's, is next in size to that of the Lateran, though 

 supposed to have been somewhat abridged of its original dimensions. 

 The entire height of the shaft itself is 83 ft. ; it is 8,ft. 10 in. square at 

 its base, and 6 ft. 11 in. at the other end. In all 48 obelisks were 

 transported by the emperors to Rome ; o these the five largest still 

 r;in.iin, but only seven of the smaller ones have escaped destruction. 



1 Miring the calamities that befel Home under ita barbarian invaders 

 after the downfall of the empire, the obelisks were damaged and over- 

 thrown ; but those not entirely destroyed have been gradually restored 

 under various pontiffs. The first to attempt this was Sixtus V., and 

 BO much interest did the proposal to raise one of these shafts excite, 

 that 500 different plans are said to have been sent in from various 

 parts of Europe. The task was allotted to Dominico Fontana, who 

 employed 600 men and 140 horses in raising it, and was so elated with 

 hi *ucces, tliat ho published full details of the process ill a handsome 

 folio volume. Ill all twelve nbclixk* have ' <1 i:i Rouic, 



but the most entire ignorance or disregard has been shown of 

 the principles which render these monoliths so graceful iu their 

 original state. Not only have they been placed on absurdly unsuitable 

 pedestals one, for instance, on the back of an elephant but above 

 the original termination (the simple and elegant pyramidion), has been 

 fixed a cross, with other equally misplaced and often puerile orna- 

 ments. The following table contains a list of the Roman obelisks, 

 arranged in the order of their modern restoration, with the dimen- 

 sions of the shafts but omitting the modem bases and crowning 

 ornaments, and other particulars : 



I. The Vatican, iu front of St. Peter's, where it was removed by 

 Fontana from the Vatican Circus. On the side facing the church, and 

 on the opposite side, we see the dedication to Augustus and Tiberius. 

 Height 83 ft. 2 in. Without hieroglyphics, and still entire. 



II. In front of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, erected by 

 Fontana. Height 48 ft. 5'1 in. ; without hieroglyphics ; broken in three 

 or more places. 



III. In front of the St. John Lateran church, erected by Fontana ; 

 Height 105 ft. 7 in. Hieroglyphics; broken in three pieces. This 

 magnificent monolith was originally erected before the propylcea of the 

 temple at Thebes by one of the kings of the 18th dynasty. 



IV. Flaminio del Popolo, erected by Fontana. Height 78 ft. 6 in. 

 Hieroglyphics ; broken in three pieces. This was one of the two 

 obelisks brought by Augustus from Heliopolis. These four obelisks 

 were raised under pope Sixtus V. during the years 1586-89. 



V. In the Piazza Navona ; sometimes called the Pamphilian obelisk ; 

 erected by Innocent X., in 1651. Height 54 ft. 3 in. Has hierogly- 

 phics, but not genuine ones, having been cut by order of Domitian. 

 Fountain round the base. 



VI. Minerveo della Minerva, erected by Bernini for Alexander VII., 

 in 1667. This obelisk, with singular bad taste, is placed on the back 

 of a horrible elephant, the work of Bernini. Height about 17 ft. 

 Hieroglyphics. 



VII. Mahuteo della Rotonda, raised by order of Clement XI. iu 

 1711, in front of the Pantheon of Agrippa. Height 19 ft. 9 in. 

 Hieroglyphics ; probably the pendant of No. 6 : fountain round the 

 base. 



VIII. Quirmale di Monte Cavallo, erected by Antinori for Pius VI., 

 in 1786. Height 47 ft. 8 in. No hieroglyphics ; appears broken in two 

 or three places. 



IX. Sallustiano della Trinita di Monte, erected by Antinori for 

 Pius VI., in 1789. Height about 43 ft. 6 in. Hieroglyphics. 



X. Campense di Monte Citorio, erected by Antinori for Pius VI., iu 

 1792. Height 71 ft. 6 in. Hieroglyphics. 



XI. Aureliano della Passeggiata, on the Monte Pincio, erected for 

 Pius VII., in 1822. Height about 30 ft. Hieroglyphics. This is called 

 by Zoc'ga the Barberini obelisk, of which he says, " Hie e Romania 

 obeliscis adhuc cognitis solus expectat sospttatorem." 



XII. Private obelisk erected in 1817 on the Coclian Hill, in the 

 gardens of the Villa Mattel ; hardly worth mentioning. It is a small 

 fragment of a real obelisk mounted on a piece of modern granite. 



Cleopatra's Ncci'.lo. 



Of the two obelisks which Pliny mentions (' Hist. Nat.,' xxxvi. 9) as 

 standing in front of a temple at Alexandria, only one is now Htamlinj-', 

 Like most of the monuments of Lower Egypt, it beans the name of the great 



