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Bernini's Elefantino
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Rome - Perhaps Rome's most smile inducing sculpture . . it's hard not to when walking through Piazza della Minerva, a small intimate square just off of the Pantheon.
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In the mid-17th century, Pope Alexander the VII commissioned Bernini to create a base for the Egyptian obelisk that had just been found in the adjacent convent's garden. He decided that the theme of the sculpture should be "divine wisdom", hence Bernini's choice of an elephant. The Pope also provided the lovely Latin inscription for the base, which translated reads: "Whoever you may be who sees the figures (hieroglyphics) sculpted by the wise Egyptian on the obelisk supported by the elephant, the strongest of animals, know that upholding solid wisdom required a robust mind."
This little elephant with his oversized trunk, wrinkled skin, pudgy behind, and forever loaded with the 15 foot obelisk on his back . . fa tenerezza. This Italian term roughly means "induces feelings of tenderness". Watch the faces of people walking by . . . they are all smiling, as are you.
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--contributed by GB (see bio), owner of Welcome Home, quality expatriate housing in Rome since 1984.
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