Elephant and Obelisk, Piazza della Minerva, Rome

Elephant and Obelisk was designed by the Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The elephant was probably carved by his assistant Ercole Ferrata. The Egyptian obelisk was uncovered i nearby excavations. It was unveiled in February 1667 in the Piazza della Minerva in Rome,, just outside the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where it stands today.

Various preparatory drawings done by Bernini exist. One version in Windsor Castle, was probably done in the 1630s when Cardinal Francesco Barberini wished to place an Egyptian obelisk in front of his family palace, the Palazzo Barberini. Nothing came of this specific project, but Bernini revived the idea in the 1660s, when Pope Alexander VII, wanted to build a similar monument after the Egyptian obelisk had been discovered in Rome.