Su I Dodici Obelischi Egizj Che Adornano La Citta' Di Roma - Ragionamento Di Giovanni Battista Cipriani Corredato Di Quattordici Tavole Dal Medesimo Disegnate Ed Incise In Rame

This book was published at a time when Egyptian antiquities were becoming increasingly interesting to European designers. This interest had been growing throughout the eighteenth century, and had been boosted at the time of Napoleon's attempted occupation of Egypt.

Cipriani providesd a brief history of the Egyptian obelisks at Rome in the text of his 'Ragionamento'. Some had been imported by Roman emperors between ca. 30 B.C. and ca. 337 A.D. (some were also taken to Constantinople); others had been raised there in connection with the cult of Isis. Between the 16th and 18th centuries those which had fallen had been re-erected, and several were moved to new positions.

The plates are captioned and show: [1] the twelve obelisks, arranged in order of height; [2] the twelve obelisks, arranged in order of their dates of re-erection; [3] 'Obelisco Vaticano di S. Pietro in Vaticano'; [4] 'Obelisco Esquilino di S. Ma. Maggiore'; [5] 'Obelisco Lateranense di S. Gio. in Laterano'; [6] 'Obelisco Flaminio del Popolo'; [7] 'Obelisco Agonale di Piazza Navona'; [8] 'Obelisco Minerveo della Minerva'; [9] 'Obelisco Macuteo ora della Rotonda'; [10] 'Obelisco Quirinale di Monte Cavallo'; [11] 'Obelisco Sallustiano della Trinità de' monti'; [12] 'Obelisco Campense di monte Citorio'; [13] 'Obelisco Aureliano della Passeggiata'; [14] 'Obelisco Mattejano sul monte Celio' (this is possibly the first published depiction of this obelisk, which had been erected as recently as 1817).

As part of the 'Egyptian Revival' new copies of obelisks were erected in several places. In the nineteenth century three more obelisks would be transported from Egypt - to Paris (1836), London (1878) and New York (1881).