Obelisk of the Celimontana villa

the obelisk of the villa Celimontana is an obelisk of Egyptian origin, transported to Rome to decorate there one of Iséums (sanctuaries of Isis) of the city. It is reconstituted today and accessible in the public garden from the Celimontana villa, located on Célius. It is very incomplete and of modest size.

Origins

One knows little about the origins of this small monument, of which only the upper part reached us: it carries the cartouche of Ramsès {{II}}. It is often presented like the twin of the Obélisque of the Pantheon. Like him, it probably comes from Héliopolis.

Transport in Rome

One does not know much more about his old situation in Rome:

or it comes from the Temple of Isis of the Champ de Mars, like others in Rome, and would have been transferred onto the Célius with the Middle Ages;

or it belonged to the ornaments of the temple of Isis to the Capitole, where it would have remained until the 16th century.

Current location

This obelisk belonged to the collection of antiquities of the Mattei family, which made it reconstitute in 1820 in the gardens of the Celimontana villa. There remains very fragmentary, since only its higher half, only high 2,68 m, is original. With the complement, the pedestal and the sphere with point, it succeeds in reaching a 12,23 m height, which give him a completely presentable silhouette.

Gallery

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