Image courtesy Emory University Digital Library Publications Program

ClassificationsWorks of Art on Paper

The Lowering of the Vatican Obelisk

Date1586

Credit LineJoint purchase by the museum, through the generosity of Linda Hyman, the Art History Department Fund, and by the Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University

Dimensions20 1/16 x 45 1/16 in. (51 x 114.5 cm)

Object number2006.043.002

Label TextSince the papacy of Nicholas V (1447-1455) in the middle of the fifteenth century, plans to move the Vatican obelisk from its obscure location at the side of the old basilica to a more visible and prestigious site had periodically been considered and then set aside. When Paul III (1534-1549) asked him to perform the task, even the great Michelangelo had refused, reportedly saying, "But what if it breaks?" It was not, thus, a novel proposal when Sixtus V (1585-1590) at the beginning of his reign chose his personal architect and engineer Domenico Fontana to move the mammoth stone. What was new was the pope's determination in pursuing the project. In this era of the Counter-Reformation, Sixtus had as little respect for antique monuments as he did for the beliefs of Protestant heretics. As Fontana later wrote in his treatise On the Transportation of the Obelisk, Sixtus wanted "to provide the greatest and most excellent pedestal for the Cross . . . and, also to abolish the memory of ancient superstition and to adorn both the Piazza and the spectacular new building of St. Peter's."

In September 1585 Fontana began the undertaking which was to make all of Rome-in fact, all of Europe-marvel at this feat of engineering. Popular interest was such that these two images were published while the work was taking place. The painter Giovanni Guerra made the finished designs with the framed captions based on Fontana's working drawings. Natale Bonifacio then etched the plates following Guerra's drawings.

This image, published in August 1586 and also composed of three plates, documents the start of the effort to lower the obelisk. In the background at the far left is the new basilica of St. Peter's, still under construction, then, moving to the right, the nave of the old basilica, and parts of the papal residence. The lower half of the obelisk, encased in the castello, is visible at the center. To its left is the Rotunda of Sant'Andrea, the sacristy of the old basilica, whose walls had to be broken through in order to accommodate three of the capstans that were used to tighten and loosen the ropes that lowered and raised the monolith. Forty capstans in all were needed. These fill the lower part of the image. Each capstan was powered by twenty men and a pair of horses. To maintain an equal tension on all the ropes, the teams were synchronized by the sounding of a trumpet to begin turning and the ringing of a bell signaling them to stop. Crowds of onlookers stand at the edges of the work site, kept at a distance by the pope's Swiss guards.
Exhibition HistoryDiscovering Rome: Maps and Monuments of the Eternal City, Michael C. Carlos Museum, September 16, 2006 - January 14, 2007
Antichità, Teatro, Magnificenza: Renaissance and Baroque Images of Rome, Michael C. Carlos Museum, August 24 - November 17, 2013
Published ReferencesSarah McPhee, et al., Antichita, Teatro, Magnificenza: Renaissance and Baroque Images of Rome (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2013), 5, 56, plate 2.

ProvenancePurchased by MCCM and Robert W. Woodruff Library from Martayan Lan Rare Books, New York, New York.

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Not on view

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