The Obelisco Pinciano (9.25 m), which stands in Viale dell' Obelisco on the Pincian hill, was commissioned by the emperor Hadrian (r. 117-38) and erected at the tomb of Antinous, the nineteen-year-old favourite of the emperor, who died in 130. The obelisk was moved to Rome by the emperor Elagabalus (r. 218-22) to decorate the spina of the Circus Varianus.
The obelisk was unearthed in the 16th century near the Porta Maggiore. It was first moved to the Palazzo Barberini and later to the Vatican. Hadrian's obelisk was finally erected in 1822 on the Pincian hill, at the behest of Pope Pius VII (r. 1800-23).
There are three inscriptions on the base. The two short inscriptions read: SACRI / PRINCIPATVS / EIVS /ANNO XXIII (The 23rd year of his sacred pontificate) and XI KAL / SEPTEMB / ANNO MDCCC / XXII.
The longer inscription reads: PIVS VII PONT MAX / OBELISCVM AVRELIANVM / QVI VNVS SVPERERAT / TEMPORVM INIVRIA DIFFRACTVM / DIVQVE OBLITVM / IN PRISTINAM FACIEM RESTITVI / ATQVE HOC IN LOCO ERIGI IVSSIT / VT AMOENA PINCII SPATIA / CIVIBUS AD APRICANDVM APERTA / EXIMII GENERIS MONVMENTO / DECORARET (Pius VII, Pontifex Maximus, ordered the Aurelian obelisk, which survived the ravages of Time, broken in pieces and long forgotten, to be erected in the Pincio and returned to its ancient form, so that it could decorate the sunny spaces, so much appreciated by the citizens).