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Early 20th Century Pair Of "Corsa Dei Cocchi Obelisks" - Italian Marble
£2,850 $3,836 €3,289
A striking pair of early 20th-century Italian marble obelisks, each crafted in a breccia and verde marble with warm colourful hues; highlighted by the dark green marble stringing that accentuates the tapered shafts. Subtle gilt-bronze tortoise mounts add refined decorative detail, all raised on stepped square bases.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Height: 58 cm
Width: 14 cm
Depth: 14 cm
Condition: Excellent Original Condition
Circa: 1930
Materials: Marble
SKU: 9527
ABOUT
Corsa dei Cocchi Obelisks
The Obelisks of the Corsa dei Cocchi are a pair of striking 16th- and early 17th-century marble monuments standing at opposite ends of Piazza Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy. These tapering four-sided obel...isks were designed around 1570 by architect Bartolomeo Ammannati and were finally erected in 1608 to mark the celebration of the marriage of Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici to Maria Maddalena of Austria.
Each obelisk rests on a pedestal supported by four bronze turtles cast by the Flemish sculptor Giambologna (Jean de Boulogne) or his workshop. The turtles are symbolic, often interpreted as an allegory of the Medici motto festina lente (“make haste slowly”), contrasting the slowness of the turtle with the high-speed spectacle these markers once bounded. The tops of the obelisks were later adorned with gilded bronze lilies, the emblem (giglio) of Florence, reinforcing their civic identity.
Historically, the obelisks replaced earlier temporary wooden pyramidal posts that had defined the course of the Palio dei Cocchi, a chariot-style race introduced in 1563 by Cosimo I de’ Medici. This event—held annually on June 23, the eve of Saint John the Baptist’s feast, Florence’s patron saint—featured four horse-drawn coaches (cocchi), representing the city’s districts, racing around the piazza for three laps. The pair of obelisks served as fixed turning points or boundaries for the start and finish of the race, much like the metae of ancient Roman circus tracks.
The Corsa dei Cocchi continued to be a popular civic spectacle for nearly three centuries, engaging all social classes, until urban changes—like the introduction of tram tracks in the mid-19th century—made it impractical to hold. Today, the obelisks remain as enduring monuments to Florence’s Renaissance tradition of public festivities and its deliberate revival of classical Roman pageantry.
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Internal Reference: 9527
Antique ID Number (AIDN): SA1197009
Dateline of this antique is 1930
Height is 58cm (22.8inches)Width is 14cm (5.5inches)Depth is 14cm (5.5inches)
Antique SA1197009 shown on this page was made in 1930. For historical context, the timeline below highlights the period when it was created:
1930
ANTIQUE SA1197009
CONTACT DETAILS OF SELLER:
Hickmet Fine Arts
Established in 1936, Hickmet Fine Arts is an international family run antiques business
Hickmet Fine Arts is also an antique trade association member of LAPADA BADA CINOA
London
United Kingdom
Tel: 07971 850405
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