Elephant of the Bastille

The Elephant of the Bastille was an early 19th-century monumental project for the Place de la Bastille in Paris that took the form of a giant elephant intended as a fountain. A full-scale model of the proposed bronze statue was erected at the site in the 19th century but a permanent bronze version was never completed.

The elephant concept was conceived during the Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic period as a grand public monument; financial and political difficulties prevented the casting of the intended bronze, and the temporary model that stood for a number of years was eventually removed. The site subsequently evolved into the modern Place de la Bastille with other commemorative works erected.

The project occupied the central area of Place de la Bastille in eastern central Paris, the historic site of the Bastille prison and now an important public square and transport junction.

• Site today: The Place de la Bastille now features the July Column (Colonne de Juillet) where the elephant monument once stood, and the site is a major transport and civic hub in Paris.
• Cultural reference: Victor Hugo described the plaster elephant in Les Misérables, and the ruined model later became a noted literary and cultural reference in 19th-century Paris.