Pair of Antique Grand Tour Portero Marble Obelisks With Bernini Style Bronze Elephants

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Intricate and detailed sculptural Bernini style bronze elephants supporting a Portero marble obelisk on a matching marble plinth. The Portero … Read more Intricate and detailed sculptural Bernini style bronze elephants supporting a Portero marble obelisk on a matching marble plinth. The Portero marble is comprised of crystalline black marble with distinct effervescent white veining. Modeled after Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s 1667 marble monument in the Piazza della Minerva in Rome, with the elephant closely based on Bernini’s original and the obelisk and pedestal simplified.

The elephant and obelisk model is representative of fine collectibles known as “Grand Tour” souvenirs. From the 17th to 19th Centuries, young English and other European aristocrats embarked on the Grand Tour – an extensive trip throughout Europe as an introduction to ancient and Renaissance architecture, art, and culture. Generally, the focus was the classical antiquity of Rome, with travel throughout Italy and often in France as well. In this Age of Enlightenment, such travel was intended to broaden the horizons of the traveler and was considered an educational rite of passage especially for young architects. Interest in the classical world spiked upon the discovery and excavation in 1758 of ancient Italian cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, rich with Roman frescoes and artifacts. As part of the Grand tour, the visitors purchased antiquities as well decorative arts modeled after them. They often also purchased fine art often portraying ancient architecture and ruins. The custom of Grand Tour flourished through the English Regency, though continued thereafter during the Victorian era. Travelers from the Americas also participated in Grand Tour from about the mid 18th century on. See less