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Elephant and Obelisk

1660s sculpturesAncient Egyptian obelisksElephants in artMarble sculptures in ItalyObelisks in Rome
Relocated ancient Egyptian monumentsRome R. IX PignaSculptures by Gian Lorenzo BerniniVandalized works of art
Elephant and Obelisk Bernini
Elephant and Obelisk Bernini

Elephant and Obelisk is a statue of an elephant carrying an obelisk, designed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It was unveiled in 1667 in the Piazza della Minerva in Rome, adjacent to the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where it stands today.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Elephant and Obelisk (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Elephant and Obelisk
Piazza della Minerva, Rome Municipio Roma I

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N 41.897983333333 ° E 12.477572222222 °
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Obelisco della Minerva (Pulcin della Minerva)

Piazza della Minerva
00186 Rome, Municipio Roma I
Lazio, Italy
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Elephant and Obelisk Bernini
Elephant and Obelisk Bernini
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Santa Maria sopra Minerva
Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Santa Maria sopra Minerva is one of the major churches of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers (better known as the Dominicans) in Rome, Italy. The church's name derives from the fact that the first Christian church structure on the site was built directly over (Italian: sopra) the ruins or foundations of a temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, which had been erroneously ascribed to the Greco-Roman goddess Minerva (possibly due to interpretatio romana). The church is located in Piazza della Minerva one block behind the Pantheon in the Pigna rione of Rome within the ancient district known as the Campus Martius. The present church and disposition of surrounding structures is visible in a detail from the Nolli Map of 1748. While many other medieval churches in Rome have been given Baroque makeovers that cover Gothic structures, the Minerva is the only extant example of original Gothic architecture church building in Rome. Behind a restrained Renaissance style façade the Gothic interior features arched vaulting that was painted blue with gilded stars and trimmed with brilliant red ribbing in a 19th-century Neo-Gothic restoration. The church and adjoining convent served at various times throughout its history as the Dominican Order's headquarters. Today the headquarters have been re-established in their original location at the Roman convent of Santa Sabina. The titulus of Sanctae Mariae supra Minervam was conferred on 28 June 2018 to Cardinal António Marto.

Pantheon, Rome
Pantheon, Rome

The Pantheon (UK: , US: ; Latin: Pantheum, from Greek Πάνθειον Pantheion, "[temple] of all the gods") is a former Roman temple and since 609 AD, a Catholic church (Basilica di Santa Maria ad Martyres or Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs), in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). It was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated c. 126 AD. Its date of construction is uncertain, because Hadrian chose not to inscribe the new temple but rather to retain the inscription of Agrippa's older temple, which had burned down.The building is cylindrical with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43 metres (142 ft).It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history: since the 7th century, it has been a church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs (Latin: Sancta Maria ad Martyres) but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda". The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a state property, managed by Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio. In 2013, it was visited by over 6 million people. The Pantheon's large circular domed cella, with a conventional temple portico front, was unique in Roman architecture. Nevertheless, it became a standard exemplar when classical styles were revived, and has been copied many times by later architects.

Santa Chiara, Rome
Santa Chiara, Rome

Santa Chiara is a church in the rione Pigna, formerly the Campus Martius area of Rome dedicated to Saint Clare of Assisi. It is located at the corner of via Santa Chiara and via di Torre Argentina (where this street becomes via della Rotonda). It is about a block south of the Pantheon, at the piazza Santa Chiara. It was founded by Saint Charles Borromeo, who built a Franciscan convent (now used by the Pontifical French Seminary) and the church within the ruins of the Baths of Agrippa in 1592. It was restored in 1627, but at some later point the roof collapsed and it was abandoned. In 1883, the Congregation of the Holy Spirit acquired the property, and rebuilt the church, giving it a new facade designed by Luca Carimini in 1888. On the lower of the two levels, the main door is framed by two columns holding a semicircular tympanum with a decorated lunette. To the sides are niches with triangular tympanums, surmounted by circular windows. On the upper level there are seven windows surmounted by busts of saints. Below the windows is the Latin inscription: "DEO OPTIMO MAXIMO IN HONOREM IMMACVLATI CORDIS MARIAE ET CLARAE VIRGINIS". The triangular tympanum crowning the façade has a relief by Domenico Bartolini. Inside the church there is a single aisle. There are frescoes and paintings by the painter Virgilio Monti (1852-1942), the official painter to the Roman Church appointed by Pope Leo XIII. The church is still served by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. The high altar has an altarpiece depicting the Holy Family, by Virgilio Monti.