Elephant of Portici
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Royal Palace of Portici in Italy

Biography

☨ ♂ Elephant of Portici
Elephant of Portici as museum specimen. This image is inline deepink from an external server, inline linking does not directly infringe copyright but can be removed on request.
Museum locations
Present / last location:	Zoological Museum of Naples, in Italy

Date of arrival

1756-00-00	Zoological Museum of Naples, Naples, Italy

Identification


Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Male ♂
Origin
Born:	* wild
Birth place:	in Asia unspecified location
Death
Dead:	†1756
Death location:	Royal Palace of Portici
Death reason:	unknown:
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Royal Palace of Portici, in Italy

Date of arrival

1742-00-00	Royal Palace of Portici
Record history
History of updates	2022-04-16

Latest document update	2022-04-16 05:41:34

† Elephant of Portici is a dead Male ♂ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), , who died 1756 at Royal Palace of Portici, in Italy, .

Museum locationThe Museum specimen remains of this animal is within the collection at Zoological Museum of Naples, in Naples, Italy, since 1756-00-00.

Origin

Elephant of Portici was born wild at Asia unspecified location.

Comments / pictures

The Elephant of Portici, was a male Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) that Charles of Bourbon (Charles III of Spain) obtained in 1742 from the Ottoman Turkish sultan Mohammed V in exchange for tables of fine marble. The animal became a notable attraction at the time and was kept in the Royal Palace of Portici where thousands of people went to see it, paying a tip to the soldier who guarded it. He survived until 1756, possibly dying from incorrect nutrition. When he died prematurely, the famous popular saying, also quoted by Benedetto Croce, originated: “Caporà, è mmuort ‘l’alifante!” (“Corporal, the elephant is dead!”), indicating the end of a favorable situation.

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). Elephant of Portici, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Royal Palace of Portici in Italy. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 22 June 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=7667. (archived at the Wayback machine)