The statue of Champollion

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This sculpture was conceived in 1865 by Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904), who was both fascinated by Egypt (which he had discovered during a trip in 1855–1856) and a fervent admirer of Champollion. Despite Khedive Ismail Pasha’s enthusiasm for the project and financial support from the Egyptian government in 1867, it was not until ten years later that the statue was finally completed. Originally intended for the scholar’s hometown, Figeac, it was acquired by the government and placed at the Collège de France, where Champollion had given the first lectures on Egyptology in 1831. It was unveiled there in 1878 by the administrator Édouard Laboulaye, who conceived the idea for the Statue of Liberty , also created by Bartholdi.

The statue makes direct reference to the study trip Champollion undertook to Egypt in 1828–1829. The pose in which the sculptor depicts Champollion may strike a chord with our contemporary sensibilities, but this was not Bartholdi’s intention; he drew inspiration from two traditions: on the one hand, meditation before the ruins of vanished civilisations, a theme to which the thinker and orientalist Volney lent prestige: ‘I sat down on the base of a column; and there, with my elbow resting on my knee, my head propped on my hand, now gazing out over the desert, now fixing my eyes on the ruins, I gave myself over to deep reverie’ ( Les ruines ou Méditations sur les révolutions des Empires , 1789). Furthermore, there is the Greek myth of Oedipus, who defeated the sphinx—a monster with the body of a lion and the head of a man—which terrorised the region of Thebes by devouring anyone who could not solve the riddles it posed. By merging the Greek sphinx with the Egyptian sphinx, Bartholdi likened Champollion to Oedipus: ‘I wanted to depict Champollion as Oedipus wringing the secret from the Sphinx,’ he wrote in 1867. But contrary to this tradition, Bartholdi does not depict the two protagonists face to face. Having only a single block at his disposal, he had to work along a vertical axis, which seems to place the scholar in a dominant position.

Bartholdi thus depicts Champollion as the man who, having solved the riddle of the Sphinx—which lies shattered at his feet—is nonetheless lost in thought as he contemplates the civilisation unfolding before his eyes. He captures the scholar in a pose imbued with both triumph and humility: having conquered the riddle of the hieroglyphs, he glimpses the grandeur of a culture which he must now set about understanding.

Bibliography: Julien Auber de Lapierre, ‘A Statue for Champollion, or the Oedipus Who Defeated the Sphinx’, in J.-L. Fournet (ed.), Champollion 1822, and Ancient Egypt Regained Its Voice , The Collège de France Publishing Department, Paris, 2022, pp. 108–126.

The statue that has adorned the courtyard since July 2026 is a resin cast produced to protect the original, which is now on display at the Camille-Claudel Museum in Nogent-sur-Seine, dedicated to 19^th-century sculpture.

The conservation and restoration of Jean-François Champollion’s statue was carried out with the support of the Louis Vicat Foundation, thereby continuing the bonds of friendship between Louis Vicat, inventor of modern cement in 1817, and Jean-François Champollion.

English translation

This sculpture was designed in 1865 by Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904), who was both fascinated by Egypt (which he had discovered during a trip in 1855–1856) and an ardent admirer of Champollion. Despite Khedive Ismail Pasha’s enthusiasm for this project and a financial contribution from the Egyptian government in 1867, it was not until ten years later that the statue was completed. Originally intended for the scholar’s hometown, Figeac, it was acquired by the government and placed in the Collège de France, where Champollion had delivered the first lectures on Egyptology in 1831. It was unveiled there in 1878 by the administrator (chairman of the Collège de France) Édouard Laboulaye, who had conceived the idea for the Statue of Liberty, also by Bartholdi.

The statue is a direct reference to the study trip Champollion undertook to Egypt in 1828–1829. The pose in which the sculptor depicts Champollion may offend our contemporary sensibilities, but this was not Bartholdi’s intention; he was inspired by two traditions: on the one hand, the contemplation of the ruins of lost civilisations, a theme powerfully established by the thinker and orientalist Volney: “I sat on the trunk of a column; and there, with my elbow resting on my knee and my head resting on my hand, sometimes letting my gaze wander over the desert, sometimes fixing it on the ruins, I gave myself up to a deep reverie” ( The Ruins: Meditations on the Revolutions of Empires , 1789). On the other hand, the Greek myth of Oedipus, victorious over the Sphinx—a monster with the body of a lion and a human head that terrorised the region of Thebes by devouring anyone who could not solve the riddles she posed. By combining the Greek sphinx with the Egyptian sphinx, Bartholdi equated Champollion with Oedipus: “I wanted to portray Champollion like Oedipus snatching the secret from the Sphinx”, he wrote in 1867. But contrary to this tradition, Bartholdi does not depict the two protagonists face to face. As he had only one block of stone, he had to work along a vertical axis that places the scientist in a dominant position.

Bartholdi thus depicts Champollion as the man who, having solved the riddle of the Sphinx—which lies shattered at his feet—is no less contemplative in the face of the civilisation now revealed to his eyes. The statue captures the scientist in a pose characterised by both triumph and humility: having conquered the riddle of the hieroglyphs, he catches a glimpse of the greatness of a culture which he must now set out to understand.

Bibliography: Julien Auber de Lapierre, ‘A Statue for Champollion, or Oedipus Who Vanquished the Sphinx’, in J.-L. Fournet (ed.), Champollion 1822, and Ancient Egypt Regained Its Voice , The Collège de France Publishing Department, Paris, 2022, pp. 108–126.

The statue that has adorned the courtyard since July 2026 is a resin cast produced to protect the original, which is now on display at the Camille Claudel Museum in Nogent-sur-Seine, dedicated to 19th-century sculpture.

The conservation and restoration of the statue of Jean-François Champollion was carried out with the support of the Louis Vicat Foundation, thereby continuing the bonds of friendship between Louis Vicat, who invented modern cement in 1817, and Jean-François Champollion.