Fallen into ruins, that’s how the \u00c9l\u00e9phant of the Bastille appeared for much of its existence. Today nothing remains of it. Yet, it once stood tall where the July Column now graces the Place de la Bastille.
Imagine Paris between 1814 and 1846. Here stood a colossal plaster \u00c9l\u00e9phant Sculpture. It occupied the site of the former Bastille prison. But this wasn’t the grand monument Napoleon envisioned.
Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the \u00c9l\u00e9phant Sculpture built as a tribute to his victories. He wanted it cast in bronze from melted cannons. These cannons were captured during his military conquests.
The elephant’s trunk would spout water. A winding staircase inside one leg, measuring six feet across, would lead to a howdah. This would have been an observation platform.
Dominique Vivant oversaw the project. Jacques Cellerier began as architect in 1810. He worked on the ground works, vaults, and underground pipes. By 1812, Jean-Antoine Alavoine replaced Cellerier. Alavoine hired Pierre-Charles Bridan to create a full-size plaster model.
The \u00c9l\u00e9phant Sculpture stood as high as a three-story house. It towered over a square known for protests, demonstrations, and royal humiliations.
After Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815, construction halted. Alavoine sought financial support to complete the \u00c9l\u00e9phant Sculpture even into the 1830s. But it was all in vain. The plaster elephant started to crumble.
Victor Hugo described its miserable state in Les Mis\u00e9rables. He wrote of the plaster falling off. Cracks meandered across its belly. Tall grass grew between its legs. It stood in a hollow as if the ground gave way beneath it.
The \u00c9l\u00e9phant Sculpture became a menace. Rats poured out of it nightly. They raided the homes of local residents. People petitioned for its demolition in the late 1820s.
Finally, in 1846, they removed the plaster \u00c9l\u00e9phant Sculpture. Shortly after, the July Column was erected to commemorate the Revolution of 1830.
Legend says that thousands of rats poured out when they destroyed the \u00c9l\u00e9phant Sculpture. They terrorized neighbors for weeks.
The \u00c9l\u00e9phant Sculpture was intended to embellish Paris and demonstrate Napoleon’s military power. The fountain was to be constructed from the cannons captured at the Battle of Friedland. It was designed to be 72 feet tall. One of its legs was to function as a winding staircase. The body was to be fitted up elegantly as a saloon.
Today, the circular basin where the \u00c9l\u00e9phant Sculpture stood supports the socle of the July Column. The dream of a grand bronze elephant never materialized. Instead, a plaster model became a symbol of dashed hopes. It served as a shelter for the homeless. It became a haunting reminder of unrealized ambitions.