Skip to content
Log inRegister
    HomePaintingsDrawingsPrintsBrowse all worksWilson collectionsWilson collections mapTercentenary exhibitionOther exhibitionsProject highlightsThemes and mediaBiographiesBibliographical Resources
    Advanced search
    Work of ArtBiographiesExhibitionsBibliographical Resources
    Settings
    Pages
    300 years
    Return to "Rome 1959" is linked to these Works 9 items
    of 9

    Bernini's Elephant carrying an Obelisk

    This item is active and ready to use
    Bernini's Elephant carrying an Obelisk
    Bernini's Elephant carrying an Obelisk
    Bernini's Elephant carrying an Obelisk
    Private Collection, England / Photograph by John Hammond
    title=Credit line
    Larger imageShareFeedback
    Artist
    Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
    Title
    Bernini's Elephant carrying an Obelisk
    Date
    c.1753-54 (undated)
    Medium
    Black chalk heightened with white on yellow prepared paper
    Dimensions
    Metric: 216 x 114 mm
    Imperial: 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.
    Collection
    Private Collection, England
    Accession Number
    RF77
    Wilson Online Reference
    D226
    Exhibited
    London 1925 (86B); Exeter 1946 (16 - A Statue in Rome by Bernini)); Rome 1959 (673); Kenwood 1974 (24ii)
    Provenance
    William Lock of Norbury; his sale, Sotheby's, London 3-7 May 1821; Marianne Ford; thence by descent
    Subject
    The monument was set up in the Piazza della Minerva, Rome in 1667. The obelisk had been discovered in the gardens of S. Maria sopra Minerva and the ensemble was intended as a glorification of Pope Alexander VII. An inscription on the pedestal (not shown in the drawing) involves complicated puns on the iconography of the elephant and obelisk.
    Bibliography
    W.S. Heckscher, Art Bulletin, vol. 29, 1947, pp. 155 ff.; Ford 1951, p. 56, pl. 30
    Updated by Compiler
    2017-09-13 00:00:00

    Exhibitions

    • London, Kenwood House, Iveagh Bequest, 8 June - 27 August 1974
    • Exeter, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 7 March - 5 April 1946
    • Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, 1959

    Biographies

    • William Lock 'of Norbury' (1732-1810)
    • Richard Ford (1796-1858)
    • Sir Brinsley Ford (1908-1999)
    • Marianne Booth, Lady Ford (1767-1849)
    • Sir Francis Clare Ford (1828-1899)
    • John G. Ford (-1917)

    Documents

    • Brinsley Ford, The Drawings of Richard Wilson
    © Richard Wilson OnlineCreditsCopyright & DisclaimerPrivacy