The project
The specimen of Asian elephant, dating back to the eighteenth century, is a two years old female, that departed from bengala on February 12th , 1772, aboard of the ship “Gange” of the East India Company. A few months later landed in Brittany and made a long journey by foot, under the curious eyes of the French people, arriving few months later at the palace of Versailles where remained at the court of the king as an attraction for noble guests of the villa. The elephant died in 1782, drowning in a channel that flowed through the sumptuous park. In 1812 the specimen arrived in Pavia, donated to the Natural History Museum of the University which was founded thirty years earlier, by the will of Maria Theresa of Austria and which was, in the early nineteenth century, strongly supported by Napoleon Bonaparte.
The elephant will be displayed to the public for the first time, back from a long period of abandonment that has seen it stored for 60 years in the attic of the Visconti Castle of Pavia. The specimen was transferred to Palazzo Botta in December 2014, and it will initially undergo a thorough cleaning job and then fully restored to stem the damage from his skin over the centuries.
LINK
http://www.scienzaingiro.it
http://www.Platypus.it
http://www.regione.lombardia.it/
Goals
The purpose of the project is:
- Clean-up on the skin of the mounted specimen
- Proceed with restoration work to heal skin damages and fill up missing pieces
- Promote the historical and scientific value of the elephant of the Natural History Museum of Pavia that is the oldest mounted specimen of an Indian elephant in the world.
Video
Media Gallery
Rewards
All donations will be recognized on the website.
The most generous donor will have the opportunity to choose a name for the elephant that, according to bibliographic research, never seems to have had a nickname. The proposed name will be examined by the project team.
Donors who provide at least 30,00 euro will get guided tours of the Natural History Museum , of the University of Pavia, guided tours of the historic halls of the University of Pavia.
Team
Giorgio Mellerio
Prof. | FounderGiorgio Mellerio
Prof. | FounderStefano Maretti
Dott.Stefano Maretti
Dott.Paolo Guaschi
Dott.Paolo Guaschi
Dott.Edoardo Razzetti
Dott.Edoardo Razzetti
Dott.Jessica Maffei
Dott.Jessica Maffei
Dott.Backers
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Amici dell'elefantessa dell'elefantessa
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Amici dell'elefantessa
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Amici dell'Elefantessa
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Pamela Morellini
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Amici dell'Elefantessa
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Amici dell'Elefantessa
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Amici dell'Elefantessa
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Amici dell'Elefantessa
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Amici dell'elefantessa dell'elefantessa
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Carlo Violani
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Paolo Guaschi
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Visitatori via Guffanti CR7
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Gloria Rezzani