Obelisk; Grand Tour, Italy, 19th century.

Obelisk; Grand Tour, Italy, XIX century.
Carved alabaster.
It presents faults and interventions of later period.
Measurements: 74 x 13 x 13 cm.
The obelisk is a decorative piece very appreciated in the whole world, it is a stone monument with form of pillar, of square section, with four equal trapezoidal faces, slightly convergent, finished off superiorly in a small pyramid. Obelisks were prominently used in Ancient Egypt.
The term "Grand Tour", which appears for the first time in the work "El Voyage d'Italie" by Richard Lassels, was the term used to define the long journey through Europe, especially Italy, that young British aristocrats usually made from the seventeenth century, but especially throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The purpose of the trip was for young people to become acquainted with the art and culture of France and Italy, to admire classical art at first hand, to learn or improve their knowledge of languages, and to establish contacts and relationships with the cultural and political elites of these countries. Travelers were often looking for pieces with which to start their own art collections, objects to take back to their places of residence as souvenirs. For this reason, workshops specialized in the replica of Roman pieces, both in bronze and marble, emerged, some of which acquired a great reputation.