Red granite

Lions:

• Clay models: Prospero Antichi da Brescia and Francesco da Pietrasanta

• Cast bronze: Ludovico del Duca and Gregorio de’ Rossi

Bronze festoons:

• Lorenzo Ottoni

Base inscriptions:

• Texts: Cardinal Silvio Antoniano

• Design: Luca Orfei da Fano

• Gold plating: Giovanni Guerra

Height:

• 25.36 m

Base:

• 8.25 m

Weight:

• 330 t

St Peter’s Square. Center

http://c.vatican.va/content/vatican/en/ra/obelisco/altre-informazioni.html

The obelisk is the second highest in Rome, and the only one not to have hieroglyphic inscriptions. Its origins are uncertain. Pliny the Elder 's Naturalis Historia tells of an obelisk erected in Heliopolis by Pharaoh Nencoreo (perhaps Amenemhet II , 1929-1985 BC). Subsequently, the obelisk was used by Cornelius Gallus to adorn the Forum Giulio in the city of Alexandria between 30 and 28 BC The obelisk must have been brought to Rome by the emperor Caligula (37-41 AD), who used it to adorn his own private circus, upon the grounds of which Vatican City State now stands.
    In 1586, at the behest of Pope Sixtus V ( 1585-1590), the obelisk was moved to the center of the square; the architect Domenico Fontana designed its base and oversaw its elevation. It took 907 men , 75 horses and 44 winches to erect the obelisk.
    The Pope also had the bronze sphere at the top of the monolith, replaced with a cross. Bronze lions were realized for the foot of the base.
    In 1723, under Pope Innocent XIII ( 1721-1724) four bronze swags and eagles were added on each side of the obelisk.
    The base bears inscriptions: on the north and south sides the texts commemorate the transfer of the monolith; the east and west sides, however, bear the formulas of exorcism pronounced during the consecration of the obelisk.
    Since 1982, the traditional St Peter’s nativity scene is built beneath the obelisk at the behest of Pope John Paul II ( 1978-2005).
    You can find the inscriptions and their translations in the "More information"

Projects for moving the Obelisk