Louis XIV's elephant

Louis XIV's elephant
SpeciesAfrican elephant
SexFemale
Bornc. 1664
Died1681
Royal Menagerie of Versailles
Resting placeRoyal Menagerie of Versailles
OwnerLouis XIV

Louis XIV's elephant[1] (born around 1664 and died in 1681 at the Château de Versailles) was a gift from the King of Portugal to Louis XIV, King of France.[2] It is the only African elephant recorded in Europe between 1483 and 1862.[citation needed]

Martin Schongauer, engraving, 15th-century, 107 x 146 mm.

Life

A diplomatic gift from Portugal in 1668, this elephant was a female from the Congo.[notes 1] The elephant, housed in the Royal Menagerie of Versailles, died 13 years later in 1681. It is known that she was fed daily with 80 pounds of bread, 12 litres of wine, a large portion of vegetable soup with bread and rice, and grass at will. In the last year of her life, she suffered muscle loss and had to be lifted onto her feet with a crane.[3]

After her death in 1681, the elephant was dissected by Claude Perrault. The results of the analysis were not published until 1734.[4]

The skeleton is now on display at the National Museum of Natural History, France, in the Galerie d'Anatomie comparée.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ It is not known whether Alfonso VI or his successor Regent Pedro II was in power when the elephant was shipped to Versailles.

References

  1. ^ "The King's Animals". Palace of Versailles. 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  2. ^ "The King's Menagerie: The Sun King's Animal Kingdom at Versailles". France Today. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  3. ^ Oettermann (1982) page 129.; d'après A. E. Popham: Elephantographia. In: Life and Letters 5 (1930), page 179–191; page 191
  4. ^ Perrault: Description d'un éléphant. In: Histoire de l'Académie royale des Sciences à Paris, 1666–1699; Paris, 1734; page 91-156, planches 1–6
  5. ^ AFP. "Attaque à la tronçonneuse d'une éléphante de Louis XIV". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2024-02-18.