Safeguarding the Monument to Jean-François Champollion

Auguste Bartholdi'sMonument à Jean-François Champollion will leave the Collège de France on January 26 2026.

The plaster cast of this sculpture was created in 1867 for the Exposition Universelle de Paris by Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), who was fascinated by Egypt and a fervent admirer of Jean-François Champollion, father of Egyptology and decipherer of hieroglyphs, who remained immensely popular throughout the century. In his correspondence, the sculptor explains the significance of this major work : " I wanted to render Champollion like Oedipus wresting his secret from the Sphinx ".

In 1875, Bartholdi used this plaster cast to create a marble statue, which was presented at the 1875 Salon, acquired by the Ministry of Fine Arts and placed in the Collège de France. The statue is still owned by the French state, and is now part of the historical collection of the Centre national des arts plastiques.

Standing 2.40 meters high, the statue has been on display since 1878 at the Collège de France, where it has occupied a central position in the main courtyard since 1910. It reminds us that in 1831, the Collège de France created the first chair of Egyptology in France for Jean-François Champollion, and that its vocation illustrates the scholar's example.

Exposed to the elements and severely altered despite two successive restorations, the statue now needs to move to a covered, protected space. The town of Nogent-sur-Seine has applied to host the statue in the Camille-Claudel Museum, dedicated to sculpture of the XIX^thcentury and public monuments of the III^rdRepublic. Removal of the statue, prior to maintenance and restoration operations, will take place on January 26 2026.

This emblematic statue will not leave the main courtyard of the Collège de France  completely: it will be replaced by a resin print, produced by the Prométhée workshop from a mold made by the chalcography workshop of the Réunion des musées nationaux. The print will be installed in the center of the Cour d'Honneur in June 2026.

The original of Auguste Bartholdi's work will thus be visible in the region, while its replica will continue to evoke the very special place of Champollion as an exceptional scholar, in the very place where it was installed at the Collège de France over a century ago.

This project is part of the conservation-restoration policy that the Collège de France has been pursuing for several years, aimed at preserving, maintaining and presenting to the public the exceptional works and real-estate assets of the institution.