View source for July Column

{{Short description|Victory column in Paris}}
{{coord|48|51|11|N|2|22|09|E|region:FR-J_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{Cleanup lang |date=January 2022 }}
{{Infobox monument
| name          = July Column
| native_name   = Colonne de Juillet
| image         = File:Colonne de Juillet 972.jpg
| image_size    = 
| caption       = Jean-Antoine Alavoine's Colonne de Juillet (1835–1840) in 2007
| location      = [[Place de la Bastille]], [[Paris]], [[France]]
| mapframe      = 
| designer      = [[Jean-Antoine Alavoine]], [[Joseph-Louis Duc]]
| type          = [[Victory column]]
| material      = [[Bronze]] column on [[white marble]] base
| length        = 
| width         = 
| height        = 47m
| weight        = 163,000lbs
| visitors_num  = 2,400
| visitors_year = 2022
| begin         = 1835
| complete      = 1840
| dedicated     = July 28, 1840
| open          = 
| restore       = 
| dismantled    = 
| dedicated_to  = Commemoration of the [[July Revolution]]
| map_name      = 
| map_text      = 
| map_width     = 
| map_relief    = 
| coordinates   = 
| website       = 
| extra_label   = 
| extra         = 
}}

[[Image:Genie de la bastille2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Augustin-Alexandre Dumont|Augustin Dumont]]'s {{lang|fr|Génie de la Liberté}}]]

The '''July Column''' ({{langx|fr|Colonne de Juillet}}) is a [[monumental column]] in [[Paris]] commemorating the [[July Revolution|Revolution of 1830]].  It stands in the center of the [[Place de la Bastille]] and celebrates the {{lang|fr|Trois Glorieuses}} — the 'three glorious' days of 27–29 July 1830 that saw the fall of [[Charles X of France|Charles X, King of France]], and the commencement of the [[July Monarchy]] of [[Louis Philippe I|Louis-Philippe]], King of the French. It was built between 1835 and 1840.

==History==

A first project for one commemorative column, one that would commemorate the [[Fall of the Bastille]], had been envisaged in 1792, and a foundation stone was laid, 14 July 1792; but the project never got further than that. The circular basin in which its [[Socle (architecture)|socle]] stands was realised during the [[French First Empire|Empire]] as part of the [[Elephant of the Bastille]], a fountain with an elephant in its centre. The elephant was completed to designs by [[Percier and Fontaine]] in semi-permanent stucco, but the permanent bronze sculpture was never commissioned due to pinched finances in the latter days of the Empire. Its low base has been retained to support the socle of the column.

The monument, in an elaboration of a [[Corinthian order|Corinthian column]], was designed by the architect [[Jean-Antoine Alavoine]], following a commission from Louis-Philippe: the Place de la Bastille was officially selected as the site on 9 March 1831, and the Citizen-King placed a first stone on 28 July 1831, the anniversary of the revolution that brought him to power; a hymn with words by [[Victor Hugo]] and music by [[Ferdinand Hérold]] was sung at the [[Panthéon]] on the occasion. The ''Colonne de Juillet'' was constructed by Alavoine's partner in the project, [[Joseph-Louis Duc]]. It was inaugurated 28 July 1840.<ref>Baedeker, ''Paris and Its Environs'' 1874:61f.</ref> Music composed for the occasion was [[Hector Berlioz]]' ''[[Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale]]'', which was performed in the open air under the direction of Berlioz himself, leading the procession of musicians which ended at the Place de la Bastille.<ref>Berlioz, ''Memoirs''  chapter 50, noted by [http://www.hberlioz.com/Paris/BPColJuillet.html The Hector Berlioz website].</ref> [[Jean-Pierre Montagny]] issued commemorative medals on the occasion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://multicollec.net/2-me-h/2h1.php |title=Jean-Pierre Montagny |access-date=2007-11-06 |archive-date=2011-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727151647/http://multicollec.net/2-me-h/2h1.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the foundation, a [[columbarium]] was arranged to receive the remains of 615 victims of the July Revolution. A further 200 victims of the [[French Revolution of 1848|Revolution of 1848]] were later interred in the space; the throne of Louis-Philippe was symbolically burned in the square, in July 1848.

==Description==
The ''Colonne de Juillet'' is composed of twenty-one cast bronze drums, weighing over {{convert|163000|lb|t|disp=flip}}; it is {{convert|154|ft|m|disp=flip}} high, containing an interior spiral staircase, and rests on a base of white marble ornamented with bronze bas-reliefs, of which the lion<ref>The sun is in the zodiac sign of [[Leo (astrology)|Leo]] in July.</ref> by [[Antoine-Louis Barye]] is the most noted. The [[Gallic rooster|roosters]] at the corners are also by Barye. The [[column]] is engraved in [[gold]] with the names of those who died during the July 1830 revolution.<ref>A commemorative plaque at the base reads "À la gloire des citoyens français qui s'armèrent et combattirent pour la défense des libertés publiques dans les mémorables journées des 27, 28, 29 juillet 1830".</ref> Over the Corinthian capital is a gallery {{convert|16|ft|m|disp=flip}} wide, surmounted with a gilded globe, on which stands a colossal gilded figure, [[Auguste Dumont|Augustin]]'s ''Génie de la Liberté'' (the "Spirit of Freedom").<ref>A repetition is conserved at the [[Musée du Louvre]]: ([http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=2654 On-line catalogue entry])</ref> Perched on one foot in the manner of [[Giambologna]]'s ''Mercury'', the star-crowned nude brandishes the torch of civilisation and the remains of his broken chains. Formerly, the figure also appeared on French ten-[[franc]] coins.  [[Gustave Flaubert]], in ''[[Sentimental Education]]'', compares the statue to a large golden star shining in the east.<ref>Flaubert, ''L'éducation sentimentale,'' Gallimard, Paris, 1965 p.84</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|France}}
* [[Berlin Victory Column]]
* [[Congress Column]]
* [[Nelson's Column]]
* [[Washington Monument (Baltimore)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Colonne de Juillet}}
*[http://www.colonne-de-juillet.fr/en/ Official website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930170926/http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/O0012305.html (Insecula) Images of the Column] 
*[http://community.webshots.com/photo/521237726/1521367708041169831iQEDXa# Génie de la Liberté] {{Webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110628054016/http://community.webshots.com/photo/521237726/1521367708041169831iQEDXa |date=2011-06-28 }} ([[Webshots]] user photo - links to bigger version)

[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1840]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Paris]]
[[Category:Place de la Bastille]]
[[Category:Monumental columns in France]]
[[Category:Terminating vistas in Paris]]
[[Category:1840 sculptures]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures in Paris]]
[[Category:Statues in France]]
[[Category:19th-century architecture in France]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Paris]]