The Excavation of an Obelisk from the Campo Marzo

This obelisk had been unearthed in 1748 when small houses behind Palazzo di Montecitorio were torn down in order to construct a new building for the Augustinian monks of S. Maria del Popolo. The obelisk was found broken into five major pieces.

This plate shows a pulley system used to move the blocks. The block on the far left has a dedicatory inscription by Emperor Augustus. To the right of the plate is Palazzo della Vignaccia, in the courtyard of which the obelisk was temporarily relocated.

Credit: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962