A fierce enthusiast for architecture, Victor Hugo maintained a peculiar relationship with a monument that adorned the cen- tre of the Place de la Bastille in Paris before it was replaced by the present July Column. An envelope which was found upon Hugo’s death in 1885 demonstrates his devotion to the Victor Hugo’s Elephant construction. Overleaf, one can read that it used to hold a “piece of wood of the Elephant of the Bastille’s structure, de- An Architectural Anatomy of a Nineteenth-Century Monument molished during the last days of July 1846. Collected by my- self, yesterday, on the 27th of July 1846. V(ictor) H(ugo).” The Ben Vandenput Elephant of the Bastille, a project for a monumental fountain issued by Napoleon I in 1810 but torn down in its provisio- to have addressed similar architectural issues in the episodes of A short bibliography nal plaster outlook in 1846, did not leave Hugo’s imaginati- Les Misérables concerned. on. The author immortalized the building/monument in Les - Jean Mallion, Victor Hugo et l’Art Architectural, Paris: Presses Misérables as a shelter for the Parisian gamin Gavroche. This doctoral research circles around over the former monument Universitaires de France (1962). known as the Elephant of the Bastille, its architectural qualities - Robin Middleton, “The Rationalist Interpretations of Classicism The monument itself also did not go by unnoticed in the ex- and public reactions, serving as an entry point to address further of Léonce Reynaud and Viollet-le-Duc”, AAFiles 11 (1986). ploding printed press of nineteenth-century France for obvi- questions. Ultimately, the work intends to better understand Vic- - Philippe Hamon, Expositions: Littérature et Architecture au XIXe ous reasons. Authors in newspapers have stressed the ani- tor Hugo’s involvement with architecture beyond the gothic cathe- Siècle, Paris: Corti (1989). mal’s role in the constant political (re-)appropriation of the dral. The elephant’s themes listed below offer ample opportunity - Karen Bowie, La Modernité Avant Haussmann: Formes de l’Es- square where once stood the Bastille fortress. Others have to do so and to situate Hugo’s opinions on architecture within his pace Urbain à Paris, 1801-1853, Paris: Editions Recherches discussed the bizarre and exotic construction as a memory own context. Where did his opinions on the matter conflict with (2001). of the Emperor and his vision of Paris’ urban planning, in- and deviate from the ones of contemporaries? And what does - Richard Wittman, Architecture, Print Culture, and the Public Sp- volved with both a functional lay-out of modern infrastructu- this teach us? In a broader scope, this research deals with dis- here in Eighteenth-Century France, New York/London: Routledge res and questions of a public monumentality. Hugo seems cussions on the monument in nineteenth-century France. (2008). “As soon as our fathers had conquered the Bastille, they considere- red erecting a monument on the site of the former fortress. Other preoccupations soon after postponed this project until Napoleon Palimpsest Bastille picked up the thread.” P. Hartmann, “L’Eléphant de la Bastille”, Le Magasin Pittoresque (1904). C. H. “On 3 December 1803, first consul Bonaparte issued a decree with plans for the Canal de l’Ourcq as well as for the lay-out of a squa- re with fountains and plantations that would connect the Boulevard Napoleon Dear Saint-Antoine to the Boulevard Bourdon.” s.n, “Des Divers Projets de Monument pour l’Emplacement de la Bastille, depuis 1789”, Le Magasin Pittoresque (1834). D. I. “This carcass - reinforced with iron but clad with plaster - was poorly executed. The hydraulic machine which was destined to supply the fountain would have been installed inside the tower which the ani- mal carried. The tower itself would have been accessible via a stair- Infrastructure case in one of the legs.” s.n, “Des Divers Projets de Monument pour l’Emplacement de la Bastille, depuis 1789”, Le Magasin Pittoresque (1834). E. J. “It is more plausible to think of the monument as s souvenir of the A. campaign to the East, an allusion to dreams of conquering India, as & well as an ancient reference.” B. Uniquely Exotic P. Hartmann, “L’Eléphant de la Bastille”, Le Magasin Pittoresque (1904). F. K. “The author has concluded his ten-pages long lyricism by this fiery apostrophe: ‘And you, colossus representing the noble and powerful union of all French, stately giant we bequeath to future generations will always keep a close Monumentality watch on sacred sentiments.” P. Hartmann, “L’Eléphant de la Bastille”, Le Magasin Pittoresque (1904). G. L. Victor Hugo & Norman Denny (transl.), Les Misérables, London: Penguin Books (1982): 822 & 826. (...) PRINTING THE PAST. ARCHITECTURE, PRINT CULTURE, A. “Model for the Bastille Elephant” in: Le Magasin Pittoresque (1834): 160 G. “Pyramid in honour of Napoleon I”, ? 19th c., RMN-Grand Palais B. Photograph of Victor Hugo by Etienne Carjat (Goupil et Cie., 1876) H. “Drawing of a Benghal Elephant” by Antoine-Louis Barye (1876). ENSBA PriARC AND USES OF THE PAST IN MODERN EUROPE C. “Taking of the Bastille”, Imprimeur Haguenthal (ca. 1850). MuCEM I. “Study of an Elephant” by Antoine-Louis Barye (1876). ENSBA D. “Napoleon on Column of Place Vendôme” (Chez Julienne, 1833). BnF J. “Study of the Feet of an Elephant” by Antoine-Louis Barye (1976). ENSBA E. “Bastille Fountain”, Louis Bruyère, Etudes R. (Chez Bance Aîné, 1828) K. “Drawing of a Benghal Elephant” by Antoine-Louis Barye (1876). ENSBA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE & URBAN PLANNING F. “Battle of Caïro 1798” ? 19th c., Ajaccio, Musée de la Maison Bonaparte L. “Studies of an Elephant” by Antoine-Louis Barye (1876). ENSBA.