Visions of the Elephant of the Bastille, a colossal elephant fountain designed to the orders of the Emperor Napoleon and built in 1813. Designed by architect Jean Antoine Alavoine working with architect Pierre-Charles Bridan, the elephant was originally going to have a cast-bronze skin but ended up in plaster so it only lasted until 1846, not forever.

Art book/folio, Drawings and sketches 2 Minutes

Projet de la fontaine monumentale surmontée d’un éléphant. Taken from a dummy (sic) album, cardboard covered with brown vat paper, with red leather corners and spine. Folio 7. French. ca. 1813. Watercolor with pen and gray ink lines and traces of graphite. Jean Antoine Alavoine, artist (1776-1834). Image © GrandPalaisRmn. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. Collections of the
Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, INV 23521, Recto.
– https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl020009390 – https://collections.louvre.fr/CGU
Etude de l’éléphant pour la fontaine de la place de la Bastille. Taken from a dummy (sic) album, cardboard covered with brown vat paper, with red leather corners and spine. ca. 1813. French. Folio 9. Watercolor, pen and brown ink and graphite. Jean Antoine Alavoine, artist (1776-1834). Image © GrandPalaisRmn. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. Collections of the
Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, INV 23522, Recto – https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl020009391 – https://collections.louvre.fr/CGU
Etude de la fontaine de la place de la Bastille. Taken from a dummy (sic) album, cardboard covered with brown vat paper, with red leather corners and spine. ca. 1813. French. Folio 11. Watercolor with gold highlights. Jean Antoine Alavoine, artist (1776-1834). Image © GrandPalaisRmn. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. Collections of the
Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris. https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl020009392
Dernier projet de la fontaine de l’éléphant pour la place de la Bastille. Taken from a dummy (sic) album, cardboard covered with brown vat paper, with red leather corners and spine. ca. 1813. French. Folio 13. Watercolor and pen and brown ink with graphite lines. Jean Antoine Alavoine, artist (1776-1834). Signed by Vivant Denon at the bottom left. Image © GrandPalaisRmn. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. Collections of the Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris. https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl020009393

Etude de la fontaine de l’éléphant, celui-ci porte sur son dos un coffre. Taken from a dummy (sic) album, cardboard covered with brown vat paper, with red leather corners and spine. ca. 1813. French. Folio 15. Graphite, brown wash, and watercolor. Jean Antoine Alavoine, artist (1776-1834). Image © GrandPalaisRmn. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. Collections of the Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris. https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl020009394
Etude de la fontaine de l’éléphant. Taken from a dummy (sic) album, cardboard covered with brown vat paper, with red leather corners and spine. ca. 1813. French. Folio 23. Indigo wash, brown ink and pen. Jean Antoine Alavoine, artist (1776-1834). Image © GrandPalaisRmn. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. Collections of the Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris. https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl020009398

Projet de fontaine pour la place de la Bastille, the engraved inscription reading Project for a fountain for the Place de la Bastille composed by J. A. Alavoine, under the direction of Baron Denon. – The model of the elephant was executed to the size of the monument by Mr. Bridan, statuary during the years 1813-1814′ Taken from a dummy (sic) album, cardboard covered with brown vat paper, with red leather corners and spine. ca. 1813. French. Folio 5. Etching with watercolor. Jean Antoine Alavoine, artist (1776-1834). Image © GrandPalaisRmn. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. Collections of the Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris. https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl020500365

Published by sarahbguestperry

On a voyage to see how much mileage I can get from the creative ability and eye for images that my family thought was useless. On line art curator, fiction writer and now blogger. Historian's daughter. Follow me . . .even I have no idea where I'm going next.

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