Elephant of The Bastille

Between 1814 and 1846, there stood a colossal plaster elephant in the heart of Paris, at the site of the former Bastille prison. For much of this time it presented a sorry spectacle. One tusk had fallen off, and the other was reduced to a powdery stump. Its body was black from rain and soot, and large cavities had opened in its torso where rodents, stray cats and vagrants took shelter. The plinth was overgrown by dandelions and thistles. This was not the sight Napoléon Bonaparte had intended when he ordered the elephant built. It was supposed to be a monument to his victories, built out of bronze from melted canons he captured during his conquests. The elephant’s trunk would spout water, while one of its legs, measuring 6 feet across, would house a winding staircase leading to the howdah. Elephant of the Bastille. Watercolour by architect Jean-Antoine Alavoine. Photo: Wikimedia Commons When the Bastille fell in July 1789 and subsequently demolished, there was some debate as to what should replace the former prison. It was decided that the area would become a square celebrating liberty, and a column would be erected there. A foundation stone was laid but the column never materialized. Instead, a fountain was built in 1793, depicting the Egyptian God Isis with water flowing from her breasts. But Napoleon had more grandiose plans. In 1810, the emperor decreed that a new fountain was to be erected, in the shape of an elephant, one that would be heroic and delightful to all who beheld it. Dominique Vivant, a French artist, writer, diplomat, archaeologist, and the first Director of the Louvre museum was given the task of overseeing the project. Jacques Cellerier was chosen as the architect and work began in 1810 on the ground works, with the vaults and underground pipes completed by 1812.