Gezicht op het Sint-Pietersplein te Vaticaanstad 1860 - 1889

Roberto Rive's photograph captures the vastness of St. Peter's Square, dominated by the ancient obelisk at its center. This obelisk, once a silent witness in Heliopolis to the sun god Ra, stands as a potent symbol of appropriated power. Imagine its journey: from the heart of Egyptian solar worship to the center of Christendom. This act of re-contextualization is not merely a change of scenery. It is a powerful declaration of cultural succession. Similar appropriations appear across history, like the Roman adoption of Greek gods, each iteration layering new meaning onto ancient forms. The obelisk, phallic in form, embodies an eternal, reaching desire for connection with the divine. This symbol resonates with an unconscious yearning, a primal drive to bridge the earthly and the celestial. Its cyclical journey, surfacing in different eras and assuming new spiritual garments, reveals our relentless pursuit of meaning, an endless negotiation between past and present.