One of the colmillos of the famous elephant in the Plaza de la Minerva in Rome, one of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s most recognized sculptures, it has a round shape The high office of the capital of Italy was informed this Tuesday evening.
The warning was issued at 21:00 when damage was discovered in the stone that carries the obelisk in front of the Santa María sopra Minerva church in the historic center. Municipal technicians found the lost fragmentwhich was found while searching for the statue, and transported it for its analysis and subsequent restoration.
for the moment authorities are investigating the cause of the accident. The colmillo cannot be expected to break due to an act of vandalism, an accident or even the heavy rains that have hit Rome in recent days. Police requested footage from security cameras in the area to reconstruct the incident.
“It is unacceptable that the artistic and cultural heritage of a nation is destroyed damage so many graves“, complained the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, who expressed his support for the Roman superintendence to ensure that the statue is restored “as soon as possible”.
It’s not the first time that i know little elephant Damaged result: in November 2016, an unknown person broke the broken helmet at night, and the fragment was left in the ground.
A statue, a giant designed by Bernini and executed in 1667 by his pupil Ercole Ferrata, it represents an elephant supporting an Egyptian obelisk and reaching a total height of 12 meters. It was placed by order of Pope Alexander VII. as a symbol of divine wisdom.
The artist’s gesture also made the Dominicans, who opposed his drawing, a part of Roman legend: Bernini directed the transport of the animal to the monastery de los frailes en señal de safío, which created one of the most characteristic works – and the most characteristic – of the Italian Baroque.
The animal symbolized strength, as the inscription on the plinth evokes: “Whoever observes the esculpid images of Egyptian wisdom on the obelisk bearing the elephant, the greatest of animal strength, knows that a robust mind is needed to carry it.” solid wisdom“.
The Dominicans, dissatisfied with the Pope’s decision, openly criticized Bernini: In his opinion, the elephant that was designed had to be lowered under the weight of a huge obelisk in the care of a central support.
The artist worked hard to construct an element that disturbed the aesthetics of the composition, but in the end he had to give in to the insistence of the Pope and the fillet was placed under the front of the elephant, but it had to be masked.
Bernini freed himself to a very elaborate jaez, which tapa cases completely on the animal and on to be free from the interference of the Dominicans who destroyed their project, directed a bulky train of animal hacia towards the monastery.
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