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| Pietro Dovizelli Obelisk in Piazza del Popolo 1859 photograph Victoria & Albert Museum |
The fact that there are more ancient Egyptian obelisks in Rome than in Egypt has been mentioned in this space before, and it will probably be mentioned again because it is such a resonant and telling fact. Though all share a common history as imperial plunder, there are no more than fragmentary reconstructions of their individual paths to the spots where they now stand.
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| Giovanni Battista Piranesi Obelisk in Piazza del Popolo ca. 1760-78 etching British Museum |
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| Anonymous British artist Obelisk in Piazza del Popolo early 19th century drawing Tate Gallery, London |
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| Mrs Jane St John Obelisk in Piazza del Popolo ca. 1856-59 albumen silver print Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Giovanni Battista Piranesi Piazza di Spagna ca. 1760-78 etching British Museum |
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| Anonymous British artist Piazza di Spagna with obelisk above Scalinata 19th century drawing Tate Gallery, London |
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| Giovanni-Battista Piranesi Piazza Navona with Bernini's fountain and obelisk ca. 1746-48 etching British Museum |
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| Anonymous French artist Piazza Navona with obelisk but without fountain ca. 1647-52 drawing British Museum |
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| Giovanni Battista Falda Piazza Navona with obelisk and fountain ca. 1691 etching Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Giovanni Battista Piranesi Scalinata approaching Piazza del Campidoglio ca. 1760-78 etching British Museum |
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| Jacques Louis David Scalinata approaching Piazza del Campidoglio 18th century drawing Morgan Library, New York |
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| Giovanni Battista Piranesi Obelisk at the Archbasilica of St John Lateran ca. 1760-78 etching British Museum |
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| Giovanni Battista Piranesi Obelisk in the Piazza della Rotunda ca. 1760-78 etching British Museum |
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| Jean Barbault Excavation of an Obelisk from the Campo Marzio ca. 1749 etching Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |